Western powers considering action on Russia over its chemical weapon use: US ambassador to OPCW

Western nations, as per the US ambassador to the global chemical weapons body Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) are looking at taking measures against Russia over its alleged nerve agent attacks.

Tensions at the OPCW have as per AFP soared since the global chemical weapons body's investigators found that Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve agent, was used against Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in 2020. The nerve agent was also found to have been used against a former Russian spy in England in 2018.

Speaking to news agency AFP on Monday, US envoy Joseph Manso said that "the United States and many countries are concerned about Russian non-compliance, and Russian non-compliance is at the heart of the problems at the OPCW."

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"We're going to keep looking for what the right tools are to bring Russia into compliance. It is not something we're going to forget about," he added.

Manso accused Moscow of being responsible for the recent failure of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to agree on a new five-year plan and said that Russia's non-compliance lies at the core of the problems within the OPCW. 

During the recent OPCW meeting held last week, Russia accused the West of "politicising" the organisation. The five-yearly meeting was held to assess progress on a 1997 agreement to eradicate chemical weapons. 

The meeting failed to agree on a final document that would have set out its priorities for the next five years.

The US envoy pinned the blame on Moscow and its allies Syria, Iran and China. "Our Russian colleagues were not so flexible," Manso said.

He emphasised that the issue of Russian non-compliance will be a significant topic of discussion during the upcoming meetings of the organisation's policy-making body in July and the annual meeting of its 193 member states at the end of the year. 

When asked about potential measures against Russia, such as suspending Moscow's voting rights at the OPCW, the US envoy said that he was "not going to specifically include anything and I'm not going to specifically exclude anything".

He suggested that sanctioning Russia could be an option "that may or may not work."

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"One approach would be to sanction the Russians. That may or may not work... It's an idea, but it's not US government policy," he said.

However, he expressed optimism about the "bright future" of the OPCW and emphasised on the organisation's role in preventing the re-emergence of chemical weapons and highlighting the upcoming milestone of the US completing the destruction of its chemical weapons stockpiles in September.

Nevertheless, despite the progress in eliminating declared toxic arms worldwide, Manso expressed concerns about the potential use of chemical weapons by Russia in Ukraine. He also said that Syria's readmission to the Arab League did not change the need for "accountability" for its chemical weapons use.

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and Novichok

Russia has long denied any involvement in the poisoning of Alexei Navalny.

Navalny, who happens to be an outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, had to be put in an induced coma after the deadly chemical attack. The OPCW found a cholinesterase inhibitor from the Novichok group in Navalny's blood, urine, skin samples and his water bottle.

Moscow also skirts responsibility in the Novichok attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter. The 2018 attack that took place in the English town of Salisbury left one woman dead.

(With inputs from agencies)

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