Russia vetoes UN resolution to probe Syria chemical attack

Russia has vetoed a United Nations (UN) resolution against the UN Security council carrying out any action on Syria.

The world super power voted against a move that would have required it to cooperate with the world body to investigate an alleged chemical attack in Syria.

This is the eight time Russia will be voting against plans to undertake any action against the Syrian government, CNN reports

With Russia’s stand, the resolution will not be adopted.

The UK, US and France had circulated a revised draft resolution to the 15 member countries of the Security Council on Tuesday to condemn the chemical attack in Syria, to allow the UN to investigate last week’s chemical attack in Syria.

Western ambassadors blasted Russia earlier Wednesday for continuing to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after his alleged use of sarin on a rebel-held area of that country.

This is coming a few hours after the UK ambassador to the UN said his country has evidence that Syria used sarin gas on its own people.

Ambassador Matthew Rycroft told the UN Security Council UK chemical weapons scientists have analyzed samples obtained from Khan Shaykhun, the site of the attack on April 4, and that “these have tested positive for the chemical nerve agent sarin or a sarin-like substance.

Read also: Fresh bombings of creeks underway as FG takes delivery of Russian fighter jets

Meanwhile, America’s top diplomat, Rex Tillerson, has said that US-Russia relations are at a low and marked by distrust.

He stated this after a day of talks in Moscow with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

Tillerson had flown to Russia in an attempt to push Moscow towards the US position on Syria, but Lavrov said the two sides still “diverged” over their evaluation of last week’s chemical attack on a rebel-held town.

Tillerson, who also met the Russian president Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, told a joint press conference with Lavrov: “The current state of US-Russian relations is at a low point. There’s a low level of trust between our two countries … The world’s two foremost nuclear powers cannot have this sort of relationship.”

He stated that the US was confident in its assessment that the regime used chemical weapons in last week’s bombing, and alleged that it had used such weapons more than 50 times in the past.

Last week’s attack prompted Washington to launch a barrage of Tomahawk missiles on a Syrian air base.

 

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