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‘One Last Try’: Diplomats Attempt to Save Syria Chemical Weapons Panel Russia Vetoes Stopgap Resolution to Preserve Syria Chemical Weapons Panel
(about 7 hours later)
Diplomats tried to find a compromise at the United Nations Security Council on Friday to keep alive a panel investigating chemical weapons use in Syria, one day after it appeared doomed by an acrimonious face-off between Russia and the Western powers. Russia used its veto power Friday to block a stopgap measure at the United Nations Security Council that would have temporarily preserved the panel investigating who is using chemical weapons in the Syrian conflict.
“It is worth one last try, although we are now in overtime,” Ambassador Matthew Rycroft of Britain told reporters as he arrived at a closed meeting of the council, where its members were discussing a Japanese proposal to renew the panel’s mandate for 30 days while they seek a longer-term solution. It was the second Russian veto in 24 hours aimed at ending the panel, which has found since its creation by the Security Council two years ago that both the Syrian government and Islamic State militants have used chemical weapons in the conflict, a war crime.
Rival Security Council resolutions for a one-year extension of the mandate of the panel, known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism or J.I.M., collapsed in failure on Thursday, the panel’s final day of existence without a renewal. The panel, known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism or J.I.M., needed reauthorization from the Security Council by Friday to continue its work.
Russia vetoed an American resolution that would have left the panel’s structure unchanged. The Russian resolution, which the Americans and their allies said would have neutered the panel’s investigating powers, garnered only four votes. At least nine are needed for passage in the 15-member council. Russia, the Syrian government’s most important ally, has now used its veto 11 times to shield the government of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria since the war that has convulsed that country began in 2011.
Although the panel’s authority had technically expired on Friday, diplomats said they were interpreting the clock somewhat loosely, with some saying it was still valid until midnight. “In a world in which the council’s time and attention could be productively devoted to 100 different things, Russia is wasting our time,” Ambassador Nikki R. Haley of the United States said after Russia’s latest veto was cast. Ms. Haley said “Russia can obstruct this council but it can’t obstruct the truth.”
France’s ambassador, François Delattre, told reporters that France supported the Japanese proposal. Ambassador Vassily A. Nebenzia of Russia rejected the criticism, reiterating Russia’s view that the chemical weapons panel had become a tool of Western powers to defame Mr. Assad and had “disgraced itself” with shoddy work and false conclusions.
“It is a way to avoid the death of the J.I.M.,” he said as he entered the meeting. “It is a way to give us time, to work hard and find a spirit of unity.” In acidic language reminiscent of the Cold War, Mr. Nebenzia said Western attempts to cast Russia as the villain was “nothing but deliberate misinformation,” and that “what is taking place here is akin to a bad theater production.”
The United States also supported the Japanese proposal, diplomats said. The Russian veto on Friday thwarted a compromise resolution offered by Japan to preserve the panel for 30 days while diplomats worked on a longer-term solution that all council members could agree upon.
There was no immediate word on whether Russia would support it as well. But Vassily A. Nebenzia, the Russian ambassador, said after the Security Council meeting on Thursday that “we are always willing to compromise and find common ground.” The panel’s demise makes it unclear, at best, whether chemical weapons users in Syria will ever be held accountable.
That Thursday meeting was punctuated largely by mutual accusations of duplicity and insincerity between Russia and the Western powers over how to stop the use of chemical weapons — a war crime — in the nearly seven-year-old Syria conflict. The Japanese compromise resolution collapsed a day after rival Security Council resolutions offered by the United States and Russia for a one-year extension of the panel ended in acrimonious failure.
Russia, the Syrian government’s strongest ally, has objected to the investigating panel’s Oct. 27 report that found Syria forces were responsible for the April 4 sarin attack on the rebel-held village of Khan Sheikhoun. Russia vetoed the American resolution, which would have left the panel’s structure unchanged. The Russian resolution, which the Americans and their allies said would have neutered the panel’s investigating powers, garnered only four votes. At least nine are needed for passage in the 15-member council.
The Japanese compromise received 12 votes. Besides Russia, Bolivia also opposed it and China abstained.
France’s ambassador, François Delattre, said he was “stunned” by Russia’s response.
“Let us be clear: we respect and we will always continue to respect Russia,” he said. “However this amassing of vetoes gives rise to numerous questions.”
Mr. Delattre said “today’s vote is disastrous, it cannot be the final word.”
Russia has aggressively objected to the investigating panel’s last report, on Oct. 27, which found Syria forces were responsible for the April 4 sarin attack on the rebel-held village of Khan Sheikhoun.
The Russians said that the panel’s investigation was “nonsense,” and that renewal of its mandate would require improved methods of establishing culpability for chemical weapons attacks.The Russians said that the panel’s investigation was “nonsense,” and that renewal of its mandate would require improved methods of establishing culpability for chemical weapons attacks.
The United States and its principal allies have strongly defended the panel’s methods and accused Russia of shielding the Syrian government from responsibility for an atrocity. The United States ambassador, Nikki R. Haley, said Russia had effectively said it “accepts the use of chemical weapons in Syria.”