Progress Made On Adding Chemicals Used In Skripal Poisoning To OPCW Lists - UK Delegation

Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published January 14, 2019 | 05:19 PM

The Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has welcomed the proposal to add a range of dangerous chemicals, including those allegedly used in the notorious Skripal affair, to its Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) Schedule lists, the UK Delegation to OPCW said on Monday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th January, 2019) The Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has welcomed the proposal to add a range of dangerous chemicals, including those allegedly used in the notorious Skripal affair, to its Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) schedule lists, the UK Delegation to OPCW said on Monday,

"Good progress made on adding dangerous chemicals, including that used in Salisbury, to the CWC Schedules. #ECM62 [the 62nd meeting of the OPCW Executive Council] has recommended the proposal is accepted. States Parties now have 90 days to lodge any objections," the delegation posted on Twitter.

The OPCW-administered CWC is a treaty outlawing the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. There are three CWC Schedules in which chemical weapons are categorized depending on how dangerous they are.

In March, former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were poisoned in the UK city of Salisbury with what London claimed was the A234 nerve agent.

The UK authorities accused Russia of organizing the attack, but Moscow has repeatedly denied any involvement.

Back in spring, then-UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson claimed that London had concrete evidence of Moscow's involvement in the attack. The accusations then turned out to be false after UK experts failed to identify the source of origin of the substance used in the attack. The UK Foreign Office later admitted that the conclusion on Moscow's alleged trace in the attack was made based on their assessment of information rather than confirmed evidence.

London has left scores of Moscow's diplomatic notes calling for cooperation in the Skripal investigation unanswered, claiming that it was Moscow that was refusing to cooperate.