Churkin: No evidence from Western partners refuting gunmen’s use of CW in Syria

Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, said Russia has not heard from its partners in the UN any evidence to refute that the armed groups in Syria used chemical weapons.
“The discussions showed there has been no evidence contrary to what we introduced based on the full information we collected and analyzed in this regard,” added Churkin following a closed UN Security Council session on Monday.
He noted that Russia’s Western partners have not objected to what Moscow has introduced.
He however reminded that the US, Britain and France have done all they could to impede efforts to reach the truth about chemical weapons use in Syria, particularly with regard to the incident in Khan al-Assal in Aleppo on March 19 into which Syria demanded investigation in letters the Foreign and Expatriates Ministry sent to the Security Council Chairman and UN Secretary General.
Churkin stressed that the evidence presented by the UN on the Syrian government’s alleged involvement in the chemical weapons attack in Khan al-Assal is unconvincing, adding that Washington has so far ignored request for further information on this purported involvement.
As for the August 21 chemical weapons attack in Ghouta in Damascus Countryside, Russia’s UN representative reiterated that it was a provocation by the armed groups to encourage foreign military intervention in Syria.
The UN team investigating chemical weapons use in Syria came to the conclusion that these weapons were likely used in five out of seven sites investigated, according to a final report issued recently. Among those sites was Khan al-Assal area.