Russia vetoes Syria toxic gas probe mandate extension

11 countries vote in favor, China abstains

NEW YORK: Russia cast a veto at the UN Security Council on Tuesday preventing the renewal of the mandate for a mission that investigates the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

The investigation by the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) — known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism ( JIM) — was unanimously created by the 15-member UN Security Council in 2015 and renewed in 2016 for another year. Its mandate is due to expire in midNovember.

The JIM is due to report by Oct. 26 on who was responsible for an attack on April 4 on the town of Khan Sheikhoun, held by the opposition to Syrian president Bashar Assad, that killed dozens of people.

Russia wanted to discuss the report before voting on the extension of the mandate, and its UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia unsuccessfully asked to postpone the vote.

“Don’t try to create the impression that the JIM will be a dead letter unless we adopt this resolution today,” Nebenzia said prior to the vote.

“We are ready to return to extending the JIM after the publication of the report and after we discuss it after the 26 of October.”

A separate OPCW fact-finding mission determined in June that the banned nerve agent sarin had been used in the Khan Sheikhoun attack, which prompted the US to launch missiles on a Syrian air base.

China abstained from Tuesday’s vote, while Bolivia joined Russia in voting no. Eleven countries voted in favor of the text.

Haley’s remarks

After Russia cast its veto, US Ambassador Nikki Haley accused Moscow of “once again” siding “with the dictators and terrorists who use these weapons.”

“Russia has once again demonstrated it will do whatever it takes to ensure the barbaric Assad regime never faces consequences for its continued use of chemicals as weapons,” Haley said in a statement.

“By rejecting the renewal of the work of the Joint Investigative Mechanism, Russia has made it clear that it does not care about stopping the use of chemical weapons in the world.”