Russia casts 10th UN veto on Syria action, blocking inquiry renewal Japan asks Security Council to extend probe for 30 days

NEW YORK: Russia on Thursday cast its 10th veto of UN Security Council action on Syria since the war began in 2011, blocking a US-drafted resolution to renew an international inquiry into who is to blame for chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

The mandate for the joint inquiry by the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which found the Syrian regime used the banned nerve agent sarin in an April 4 attack, expired on Friday.

A resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the US, France, Russia, Britain or China to be adopted. The US draft text received 11 votes in favor, while Russia and Bolivia voted against it and China and Egypt abstained.

The vote sparked a war of words between Russia and the UN in the council, just hours after White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said President Donald Trump believed he could work with Russian President Vladimir Putin on issues like Syria.

The April 4 sarin attack on Khan Sheikhun that killed dozens of people prompted the US to launch missiles on a Syrian air base. US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley warned after the council vote on Thursday: “We will do it again if we must.”

Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the US draft resolution was not balanced.

“We need a robust, professional mechanism that will help to prevent the proliferation of the threat of chemical terrorism in the region and you need a puppet-like structure to manipulate public opinion,” Nebenzia said.

Syrian ally Russia withdrew its own rival draft resolution to renew the inquiry, known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism ( JIM), after unsuccessfully pushing for its proposal to be considered second and not first, as council rules required.

However, following the vote on the US draft, Bolivia then requested a vote on the Russian text. It failed, receiving only four votes in favor, seven against and four abstentions.

Nebenzia said he was “deeply disappointed” and that those who voted against the Russian draft “bear the full brunt of responsibility for the cessation of operation of the JIM.”

After the meeting ended Japan circulated a draft resolution to roll over the mandate for the inquiry for one month, diplomats said. It was not immediately clear when the council could vote.

Ahead of the council votes on Thursday, Trump urged the Security Council in a Twitter post to renew the inquiry, saying it was needed to prevent Assad from using chemical weapons.

While Russia agreed to the 2015 creation of the JIM, it has consistently questioned its findings, which also concluded that the Syrian regime used chlorine as a weapon several times.

Russia has now vetoed 10 resolutions on Syria, including blocking an initial US bid on Oct. 24 to renew the JIM, saying it wanted to wait for the release two days later of the inquiry’s report that said the Syrian government used sarin.

“Russia has killed the Joint Investigative Mechanism,” Haley said. “In effect, Russia accepts the use of chemical weapons in Syria. How then can we trust Russia’s support for supposed peace in Syria?”

Syria agreed to destroy its chemical weapons in 2013 under a deal brokered by Russia and the US.

“We condemn the use of chemical weapons by anyone,” Nebenzia said.

Japan’s proposed measure would provide more time to negotiate a possible compromise to allow the panel to continue its work of identifying those responsible for toxic gas attacks in Syria.

The draft measure would renew the JIM mandate for 30 days and task UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres with submitting to the council in 20 days “proposals for the structure and methodology” of the panel.

After the votes, the US and Russia blamed each other for ending the JIM’s operations, both insisting they wanted it to continue.

“To my Russian friends, the next chemical weapons attack is on your head,” Haley said. “By not having a JIM, you are basically telling the entire world that chemical weapons are OK to use. That’s what we should be embarrassed about today.”

Russia has been highly critical of the JIM’s findings that the Syrian regime used chlorine gas in at least two attacks in 2014 and 2015, and used sarin in an aerial attack on Khan Sheikhun last April 4 that killed about 100 people and affected about 200 others who survived the nerve agent.

Syria repeated its denial of using chemical weapons.

The JIM has also accused Daesh of using mustard gas in 2015 and again in September 2016 in Um Hosh in Aleppo.

Nebenzia accused the JIM of “fundamental flaws” in blaming President Bashar Assad’s regime for the attacks.

He cited its use of “remote working methods” and failure to visit Khan Sheikhun, “focusing solely on dubious testimony from opposition and even terrorist groups, the disregard for the whole range of rules and methods provided for under the Chemical Weapons Convention.”

Haley countered that Russia and its allies “want a JIM that doesn’t have independence.”

“They want a JIM that doesn’t have reporting,” she said. “They want a JIM that they can micromanage, or that any member can micromanage.”

Haley noted that this was the 10th veto by Russia to support Syria.

“You have to realize when a country is playing games with people’s lives,” she said. “That’s exactly what is happening here. And it’s been happening for 10 times.”

The vote took place against the backdrop of the military and political situation in Syria, where Assad’s forces have gained the upper hand. A new round of UN-hosted Syrian peace talks is scheduled to start in Geneva on Nov. 28.