Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced that Moscow will withhold part of its contribution to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
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| Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced that Moscow will withhold part of its contribution to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). |
Ms. Zakharova reaffirmed that regular contributions to the OPCW budget are the obligation of each State Party to the Chemical Weapons Convention.
At the same time, she stressed: “Russia, together with a number of partners, will continue to withhold part of the contribution allocated by the OPCW Technical Secretariat to fund the investigation team, and to identify the illegal move imposed by the United States and its satellite countries to conduct illegal activities in the interests of the Western collective.”
“We see our task as restoring the organization’s former authority in the future and protecting the integrity of the Chemical Weapons Convention,” the Russian Foreign Ministry representative said. According to her, Moscow will leave the OPCW Executive Board in May but will remain an observer to consistently protect its national interests in such important areas as the chemical industry.
The OPCW Executive Council consists of 41 members, elected on a rotating basis for two years. The places are distributed according to regional groups: Africa and Asia - 9 members each, Eastern Europe - 5, Latin America and the Caribbean - 7, Western Europe and other countries - 10. Another place is held by one of the countries of the Latin American and Asian groups, respectively.
In another development, the press service of the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet issued a statement saying that the fleet's warships conducted exercises to repel attacks by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The statement confirmed: “The crew of the Black Sea Fleet has carried out exercises to protect the naval base and civilian facilities in the city of Sevastopol from enemy UAV attacks.”
According to the exercise scenario, the Black Sea Fleet's combat units received information about a group of UAVs originating from Ukraine and moving towards Crimea. Immediately, an alert was sent to the fleet's warships.
“The sailors practiced detecting and intercepting enemy attack vehicles using both ship-based anti-aircraft weapons and equipment, as well as small arms and man-portable air defense missile systems,” the statement said.
(according to TASS, Sputnik)
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