EU foreign policy chief Mogherini meets with Lavrov: "We count on Russia and Astana in Syria", call for full OPCW probe of alleged chem attack

Sputnik
Mon, 24 Apr 2017 20:41 UTC

© Sputnik/ Eduard Pesov

According to the EU foreign policy chief, the bloc and Russia share views on the need to improve humanitarian access to Syria.

The European Union and Russia share views on the need to improve humanitarian access to Syria, and Brussels counts on Russian support in this regard, including through the Astana process, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told reporters Monday.

"We share the same approach that access to humanitarian aid in Syria has to be improved. We count on Russian work, including through Astana process. We share an interest of putting end to this war," Mogherini said after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Mogherini Calls for Full OPCW Probe Into Suspected Chemical Attack in Idlib

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called on Monday for full transparent investigation by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) into the alleged chemical weapon use in Syria's Idlib province on April 4.

"A full transparent investigation has to be done by OPCW, and full responsibility has to be guaranteed by the UN appropriate systems," Mogherini told reporters after a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.

On April 4, the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces blamed the Syrian government for an alleged chemical gas attack in the Khan Shaykhoun area of Idlib. Damascus denied any involvement in the Idlib incident, while the Syrian army said it does not possess chemical weapons. Western powers rushed to condemn Damascus, while Russia insisted on a proper investigation and said the incident was likely the result of an airstrike on a militant weapons cache rather than a deliberate attack.

In an interview with Sputnik issued on April 21, Syrian President Bashar Assad said intentional placing of chemicals across Syria to blame the government for lying about destroying them was a possibility.

Earlier in April, Lavrov stated Moscow was using its relations with Damascus to encourage the Syrian government to fully cooperate with the OPCW, which announced in January 2016 that it had destroyed Syria's chemical weapons arsenal in accordance with an agreement reached after the 2013 Ghouta attack.

Comment: This was Mogherini's first meeting with Lavrov. They also discussed Ukraine:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia is 'ready to influence' the leadership of the proclaimed LPR and DPR republics to 'fulfill the Minsk agreements'.

This was said at an April 24th press conference, after talks with the head of EU diplomacy, Federica Mogherini.

Lavrov added that this will happen if Germany and France will seek the same from the regime in Kiev.
Russian Foreign Minister stressed that the Kiev leadership openly sabotages everything that is written in the Minsk document. Such actions, according to Lavrov, have to garner some kind of reaction from those who support the Ukrainian government.

Sergei Lavrov also expressed bewilderment why Western sanctions apply only to Moscow. They are not imposed against Ukraine, despite the fact that it is Kyiv that disrupts the implementation of the Minsk agreements in the Donbass.