Russia Not to Support UK-French Draft Resolution on Chemical Weapons Sanctions

Russian Envoy to the UN Vitaly Churkin said that Moscow will not support the draft resolution on chemical weapons sanctions that the United Kingdom and France plan to introduce at the UN Security Council because of the lack of evidence.

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — Moscow will not support the draft resolution on chemical weapons sanctions that the United Kingdom and France plan to introduce at the UN Security Council because of the lack of evidence, Russian Envoy to the UN Vitaly Churkin told reporters on Tuesday.

"We wouldn’t support any action of it," Churkin said after Security Council consultations. "At this point, there’s not enough material proof to do anything about it."

Earlier on Tuesday, French and UK Envoys to the UN said they were planning to introduce a draft resolution to sanction those responsible for the use of chemical weapons, building on the conclusions of UN-OPCW Joint Investigation Mission (JIM) and the recent renewal of its mandate.

Churkin commended JIM on its work but said, in the given circumstances, the mission was not able to "produce a credible evidence" that could serve as a base for possible sanctions.

On October 27, the JIM expert panel released its latest report claiming that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons at least three times in the country throughout 2014-2015. An earlier report said Daesh terrorist group was also responsible for several attacks.