Moscow: US, Allies Against Extension of OPCW Ban List as They Hold Illegal Tests

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The United States and its allies oppose Russia's proposal to extend the list of banned chemical substances by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) because they conduct tests with the prohibited agents, Russian envoy to the OPCW Alexander Shulgin said Tuesday.

"It is clear that the United States and its closest allies, such as the United Kingdom, are opposing with all their might our proposal to include a large group of chemicals on the banned lists… because they research prohibited chemicals in NATO's specialized centres," the envoy said.

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The statement was made after on Monday the UK joined the 20 member countries of the OPCW, which oppose Russia's proposal to substantially (by five positions) extend the list of banned substances.

Earlier, Russia made such a proposal, however, according to the OPCW Technical Secretariat, some elements of the Russian proposal did not meet the criteria necessary for these substances to be included.

In January, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova expressed regret that the OPCW did not take into account Russia's proposals to add a list of prohibited substances with three more families of toxic substances.