"The organization that had been established for a noble purpose, to fight against mass destruction weapons, such as chemical ones — the OPCW has now become a tool in political games. At the end of the day, this could result in a deep crisis. The organization has lost its credibility; its technical secretariat, the technology of the investigations, the organization's director-general have all lost their credibility," Nebenzia said.
Russia Could Consider Quitting OPCW
Russia could consider leaving the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) if it continues publishing biased verdicts, but it does not want to act rashly and is not advising anyone to do so, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia told Sputnik.
"Just imagine, if we leave the OPCW and they tell us, 'Well, there you go, just like we thought." But if it completely loses credibility and becomes a place to churn out decisions against the governments that are disliked [by the West], we probably could consider leaving. But we are not acting rashly, as in, quitting ... And we do not recommend that anyone else do it," Nebenzia said.
Russia still considers the OPCW an important organization, the diplomat said.
"We are not saying that the OPCW is unnecessary or unimportant. This is the most important tool preventing production and use of chemical weapons. And it has done a lot with this, it was a Nobel laureate," Nebenzia said.
Russia Needs Evidence to Investigate Case of Navalny
Russia is ready to investigate the alleged poisoning of opposition figure Alexey Navalny, but it needs to see evidence first, yet does not have access to it, Russia’s Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said.
"They [Germans] are in a difficult situation. We are asking fair questions, to which they do not want to reply. We are ready to launch an investigation, but we need evidence, which they refuse to supply," Nebenzia said.
Navalny was hospitalised in the city of Omsk on 20 August, after he fell ill on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow. Doctors in Omsk diagnosed him with metabolism malfunction, which led to a sudden change in blood sugar levels.
After his arrival in a clinic in Berlin, the German government claimed, citing military doctors, that he had been poisoned with a Novichok-type nerve agent. Berlin then said that the conclusions of Germany were backed by laboratories in Sweden and France.
Neither Germany, not the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons have shared the formula of the alleged poison with Russia.