Russia against "chemical ultimatum" to Damascus


"The Voice of Russia"

Moscow has urged Western leaders to avoid attempts to a priori force biased conclusions on UN inspectors who will look for evidence of reported chemical weapon attacks in the Syria on August 21.
Only immediate access of UN experts to the sites of alleged chemical agents (CA) use in Damascus can save the country from a military strike, experts say. US Secretary of State John Kerry has called Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem and said that Syria must give UN inspectors immediate and full access to the Damascus suburbs.

What else he said and what topics were touched upon during the telephone talk remains unknown. However, Kerry’s statement resembles an ultimatum. What is implied here is absolutely clear: should no access be given to UN inspectors, the West will be sure that the government troops have used chemical weapons in the above-mentioned areas.

The UN experts have been staying in Damascus since August 18th, where they were invited for the investigation into the reports about the use of chemical weapons in Aleppo this spring. The Syrian government says that it is very difficult to guarantee the security of experts because the area where chemical agents (CA) were used is being controlled by the militants. There is hope though that the mediation talks, due to be held in Syria by the UN envoy Angela Kane, will make it possible to speed up reaching agreements guaranteeing UN inspection commission safety.