Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s comment on attempts to accuse Russia of preparing and carrying out chemical provocations

The far-fetched speculation on the part of a number of representatives of Western political circles, primarily the United States and the think tanks serving their interests, to the effect that the Russian Federation has carried out, or is preparing to use chemical warfare agents it is allegedly hiding, has come to our attention.

Once again, we must remind everyone that the Russian Federation fulfilled its obligations to destroy chemical weapons in full, ahead of schedule and under strict international control in September 2017, something that was officially confirmed by the OPCW Technical Secretariat’s Director-General. The Russian Federation’s commitment to CWC goals and principles has remained unchanged over the 25 years of the existence of this most important international treaty.

We call on the political circles of the Western countries to stop intimidating their people with a non-existent Russian “chemical threat.”

The Russian Federation will continue to unswervingly uphold the principles and standards of international law, and to maintain CWC integrity, including by promptly bringing to the attention of the UN member states and the OPCW any information from the Russian Defence Ministry on cases of preparing or staging chemical provocations in Ukraine by Ukrainian armed units and their curators from NATO.