Russia vetoes US proposal to extend UN Syria chemical weapons inquiry

Russia vetoes US proposal to extend UN Syria chemical weapons inquiry
Russia has vetoed a US proposal in the United Nations Security Council to renew the mandate of a UN investigative team charged with determining who is responsible for chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

The November 16 veto came hours before the UN Joint Investigative Mechanism was due to expire at midnight. It was Moscow’s 10th such veto of UN resolutions involving the Assad regime since the the latter launched the brutal crackdown on Syrians in 2011.

The US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said the veto showed Russia consistently puts protection of its ally Assad regime, which has been blamed for all but one chemical attack since the investigation started in 2015, above the protection of Syrian civilians killed in such attacks.

"Russia has killed the investigative mechanism which has overwhelming support of this council," she said. Eleven of the council’s 15 members supported the US-drafted resolution, which would have extended the investigation for another year.

"To my Russian friends, the next chemical weapons attack is on your head," Haley said. "You are basically telling the entire world that chemical weapons are okay to use. That’s what we should be embarrassed about today."

France’s UN Ambassador Francois Delattre said the Russian veto was a blow to international efforts to curb the use of chemical weapons.

"Let there be no doubt: we have unleashed a monster here," said Delattre.

Russian UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya shot back, saying the investigative mechanism needed an overhaul, including a mandate to secure evidence of chemical use first-hand rather than through parties involved in the conflict.

Russia has been highly critical of the team’s findings that the Assad regime used chlorine gas in at least two attacks in 2014 and 2015, and used sarin in an aerial attack on Khan Sheikhoun last April that killed nearly 100 people.

After Russia vetoed the US extension proposal, the council later voted against a rival resolution put forward by Russia to overhaul the investigative mechanism. It received only four votes in favor -- from Russia, Kazakhstan, Bolivia, and China -- short of the nine votes needed to pass.

After the council votes, Japan circulated a draft resolution to extend the inquiry for an additional month to provide time to negotiate a possible compromise, diplomats said.

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