Ado among US and Russian resolutions to determine responsibility for chemical weapons attacks in Syria suffered defeats at the United Nations on Tuesday, a result that the Russian ambassador said the Trump administration needed so it can “justify the use of force against Syria.”
The Security Council also rejected another Russian-drafted resolution that would have welcomed an investigation by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons of allegations of a weekend chemical attack in the suburbs of Syria’s capital. The US, Britain and France opposed the measure, saying that the investigators are already headed there and that the text didn’t include a new way to assess blame for chemical attacks.
The council has met four times in the past week on chemical weapons in Syria, with the US, Britain and France facing off against Russia, Syrian President Bashar Assad’s key ally that insists no chemical attack took place in the Douma suburb.
As tensions raises over possible US-led military acts of retaliation for the suspected attack, the UN’s most powerful body remained paralyzed, unable to overcome its deep divisions that have shown during the seven years of conflict in Syria.
Sweden’s ambassador, Olof Skoog, who attempted unsuccessfully to find a compromise solution, told the council after the third vote that he was disappointed.
“I just hope that we do not consider this the end when it comes to ensuring that the facts are established and that there is true accountability and no more impunity for the horrendous use of chemical weapons in Syria and elsewhere,” Skoog said.
After the defeat of Russia’s second resolution, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said to US Ambassador Nikki Haley: “I would once again ask you, once again beseech you, to refrain from the plans that you’re currently developing for Syria.”
The threats of US military action against Syria “should make us seriously worried, all of us,” Nebenzia said.
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