RUSSIAN FEDERATION INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT BY THE PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION TO THE OPCW H.E. AMBASSADOR ALEXANDER SHULGIN AT THE BRIEFING FOR THE CWC STATES PARTIES WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF THE RESIDENTS OF DOUMA (SYRIAN ARAB RPUBLIC) THE HAGUE, 26 APRIL 2018 Excellences, Distinguished colleagues, First of all, I would like to thank the representatives of the States-Parties to the CWC, members of the Executive Council and observers, for accepting the invitation to attend today's briefing. We organized the briefing together with our Syrian colleagues in order to onсe again return to the events in the city of Douma on April 7, 2018 which became the prelude to the missile strike of the United States, the United Kingdom and France (troika) against the Syrian Arab Republic. Today in this hall we can talk to the Syrian citizens, who arrived to The Hague directly from Douma. They are ready to tell you about what really happened in Douma on April 7, 2018. The provocation disguised as use of chemical weapons did not become unexpected neither for the Russian side nor for the Syrian Government. The Deputy Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the OPCW Dr Ghassan Obeid, who is present today in this hall, can tell you how many Notes Verbal the Syrian side has sent to the Technical Secretariat on this matter. At the 87th session of the Executive Council Dr Ghassan Obeid warned the States-Parties about the ongoing preparation of the provocation. A corresponding statement was made by President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin at the press-conference on April 4 following the high level trilateral meeting in Ankara between Russia, Iran and Turkey. Unfortunately our concerns have been materialized: the incident happened exactly one day before the Syrian government troops established full control over Douma. Western countries rushed to present it as one more crime of the Syrian authorities: the use of chemical weapons against their own people. But for us as well as for many reasonable people this has become 1 English version – unofficial translation. EC-M-58/NAT.7 page 2 yet another confirmation of the sinister plans of the opponents to the legitimate government of the Syrian Arab Republic. As we all know any use of toxic chemicals should be investigated by experts of the specialized international organization - OPCW. The Director-General of the Technical Secretariat H.E. Ahmet Üzümcü - it is necessary to give him a lot of credit - promptly responded to the Russian and Syrian joint appeal and decided to send the experienced experts to the Syrian Arab Republic. Common sense told us: It was the FFM that should have worked on that in carrying out fact-finding activities as to the incident in Douma. However the US, the UK and France without waiting for the start of FFM work publicly announced that everything was clear for them: there was no doubt that the Syrian government was guilty. At the same time the charges were made against Russia. The Russian Federation supports the “bloody regime” that allegedly uses chemical weapons against its own people. The US, the UK and France which see themselves as the guardians of the high principles of international law in practice neglect them and demonstrate disrespect to the OPCW. How else could their decision to execute an act of revenge on Bashar Assad, despite the upcoming arrival of the OPCW experts to Damascus on April 14, be evaluated? A bit later the FFM could have been attacked. One of the main arguments in favor of the “punishment” of the Syrian government was widely disseminated video created by notorious pseudo humanitarian NGO “White Helmets”. The video included the heartbreaking shots with dying children suffocating from toxic chemicals. Shortly after April 7 troika unleashed its propagandistic machine. The scheme was the same as during the incident in Khan-Shaykhun. The US Ambassador to the UN H.E. Nikki Haley showed then to the UNSC members photos of the “little martyrs” – “victims” poisoned by sarin gas. As it is said those photos horrified President Donald Trump who immediately ordered to launch 59 missiles to the government airfield “Shayrat”. This time according to her statement at the UNSC meeting on April 9 Ambassador Nikki Haley had an intention to show again some photos. However judging by her words she changed her mind. In her opinion it is difficult to count on the conscience of the Russians, who are accomplices of those crimes, do not fulfill their commitments on the Syrian chemical disarmament, allowing President Bashar Assad to use his hidden chemical arsenal. The US representatives referred to information from the social media and to the notorious video of the “White Helmets”. Today we will present undeniable proofs that the video of “White Helmets” is a rough fabrication. Thus any references to such video by our western partners are totally unfit. Today we will show on a big screen what was presented to us by the US, the UK and France as the justification for their barbaric act of aggression against the sovereign nation - the UN and OPCW member. https://bit.ly/2HXYey4 Thank you for your attention.