Post date: May 31, 2013 11:7:15 AM
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that he is disappointed with the U.N.'s political games, wants a proper Syria chemical weapons investigation.
MOSCOW, RUSSIA (MAY 31, 2013) (REUTERS) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday (May 31) that he is disappointed with the U.N.'s "political games", adding that he wants a proper investigation into a reported Syrian chemical weapons incident.
Speaking at the conference following talks with Bosnian Foreign Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija, Lavrov said that a thorough investigation into chemical weapons incident must be completed."We have repeatedly warned that there can be various provocations around this topic, that is why we insisted on a thorough investigation of any information about the use of chemical weapons. We supported the Syrian government's request to send a group of experts to investigate the incident that, according to sources, happened in Aleppo. And we are very disappointed that because of political games the U.N. Secretariat could not answer the request quickly but instead laid down conditions that were absolutely groundless, according to our estimates, and that served as a reason for disruption of a specific mission in a particular region," he said.
Turkish authorities have arrested a group of Syria's al Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Frontmilitants who allegedly had been planning an attack inside Turkey and were in possession of the nerve agent sarin, local media reported on Thursday (May 30).
Lavrov said that Russia is waiting for an official Turkish verdict on the case.
"We have already commented on the situation about the detained Jabhat al-Nusra's fighters near the Syrian-Turkish border who had sarin gas on them among other things, and we hope that our Turkish colleagues will soon present us with full information on their conclusions regarding this situation," he said.
"The situation is too serious for those who constantly speak about the problem of chemical weapons to continue playing some kind of games around it. All such incidents must be investigated," he added.
Lavrov also commented on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the conference, saying that Bosnians themselves should be responsible for the future of their government.
"Russia will assist to make sure that Bosnians take their government's destiny in their hands as soon as possible," Lavrov said.
Under the deal that ended Bosnia's 1992-95 war, the country was split into aMuslim-Croat Federation and a Serb Republic that are held together by a relatively weak central government.
But 18 years after the end of its war, Bosnia is still struggling with a complex and unwieldy government sub-division and with the corrosive impact of corruption.