Russia’s own actions at the United Nations contradict the claim by Vladimir Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, that the Kremlin backs an “objective investigation” into the use of chemical weapons in Syria. The Russian ambassador to the United Nations in the U.N. Security Council has systematically blocked resolutions calling for joint international investigations of chemical weapons use in Syria.
According to the “Security Council Veto List,” accessible on the website of the United Nations Dag Hammarskjold Library, Russia has vetoed 12 Syria-related resolutions during the seven years since the conflict there began.
Along with the “Veto List,” the Dag Hammarskjold Library provides access to the texts of U.N. resolutions and transcripts of U.N. meetings.
During the seven years since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Russia has used its veto power in 16 cases: two concerning Ukraine, one concerning Bosnia and Herzegovina, and one concerning Yemen.
The remaining 12 Russian vetoes blocked U.N. actions involving the situation in Syria.
Russia exercised six of its vetoes on Syria on the following chemical weapons-related resolutions:
April 10, 2018 – a resolution seeking a new mechanism for accountability on chemical weapon attacks in Syria.
November 17, 2017 – a resolution seeking renewal of the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM).
November 16, 2017 – a resolution seeking the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) renewal.
October 24, 2017 – a resolution seeking Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) renewal.
April 12, 2017 –a resolution on the April 4 chemical weapons attack on Khan Sheikhoun.
February 28, 2017 – a resolution seeking chemical weapons accountability.
Under the Joint Investigative Mechanism, the U.N. and the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) from 2015 to 2017 worked together to determine the perpetrators of chemical weapons attacks in Syria. Russia blocked its renewal three times, claiming bias.
After Russia vetoed a Security Council resolution on April 10 aimed at creating a new mechanism for accountability on chemical weapon attacks in Syria, U.S. Ambassador the United Nations Nikki Haley responded:
"Russia has trashed the credibility of the Council. They are not interested in unity or compromise. Whenever we propose anything meaningful on Russia, Russia vetoes it. It’s a travesty. They have now officially vetoed resolutions that would hold these barbaric uses of chemical attacks by Assad six times. It did not need to turn out this way."
The UN measure was in response to reports about a chemical attack carried out on April 7 in the Syrian town of Douma -- the“awful consequences” of which, according to Peskov, are “not based on real data.”Polygraph.info debunked Russia’s claims that the chemical attack in Douma was “fabricated.”
Records of every UN Security Council veto going back to 1949 can also be found on the www.securitycouncilreport.orgwebsite.