As Kirillov recalled, in accordance with the deadlines established by the OPCW, the United States was supposed to complete the destruction of declared stockpiles of chemical weapons in 2007, however, despite the existing economic potential, they did this only in 2023, twice postponing the deadline under the pretext of financial, organizational and technical difficulties .
“At the same time, control over the destruction was carried out by inspection groups of a limited number, in which there were no experts from Russia. The United States still retains highly toxic reaction masses remaining after the destruction of toxic substances at the Blue Grass (Kentucky) and Pueblo (Colorado) sites,” he noted.
The representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense added that until recently, the Americans regularly found unaccounted for chemical munitions in their artillery arsenals, which were destroyed unilaterally without timely notification to the OPCW.
“Such cases occurred in Anniston (Alabama), Hawthorne (Nevada) and Fort Greely (Alaska). Based on these facts, the OPCW did not make any claims against the Americans for violating Article III of the Convention,” he emphasized.
It was previously reported that Russia, together with some other countries, intends to withhold part of the contribution that the OPCW secretariat allocates to finance the Investigation and Identification Group imposed by the United States.