WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US Department of State spokesperson Heather Nauert said that the United States is extremely disappointed by Russia's motion to veto the US resolution on extension of JIM's mandate.
"Japan has put forward a new resolution to try to extend JIM mandate for a month's period so that members of the Security Council have additional time to consult on the methodology," Nauert said in a press briefing. "We hope that the resolution will pass."
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a briefing that the United States hopes Russia will be willing to collaborate on a resolution to extend the mandate.
"In terms of Russia's veto, it is certainly not one we support," Sanders stated. "We do hope that moving forward they want to get on board and work with us on this, but at the same time it is not something we support their decision on."
The draft proposes a technical renewal of JIM's mandate for 30 days.
On Thursday, Russia vetoed the US resolution on JIM extension. Prior to the vote, Russia withdrew its own draft on JIM's mandate extension.
On October 26, JIM presented to the UN Security Council a confidential report on the April sarin attack in the Syrian province of Idlib in which more than 80 people were killed. The report put the blame for the attack on the Syrian government. The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the opinions of Russian experts were not taken into consideration during the investigation, though "they are indeed objective, because, unlike the JIM report, they are based on laws of physics, ballistics and technical analysis."
"The selective approach and disdain for the OPCW standards played a dirty trick on [JIM head Edmond] Mulet" as the OPCW-UN report is marked by "a low level of professionalism, on the verge of dilettantism" and its conclusions about Damascus' alleged use of sarin nerve agent are "fully untenable," the ministry statement read.
