Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday that Russia has sufficient evidence that chemical weapons used in the attack in Aleppo on 19 March, and near Damascus, on August 21, were homemade.
“On the occasion of the incident in Aleppo on March 19th, when the United Nations, under the pressure [from] some Security Council members, didn’t respond to the request of the Syrian government to send inspectors to investigate, Russia, at the request of the Syrian government, investigated and the results of this investigation are broadly available to the Security Council and the public. The main conclusion is the type of sarin used in that incident was homemade, and we also have evidence that the type of sarin used on Aug.21st was the same, only of higher concentration,” said Lavrov in an interview with The Washington Post.
Lavrov reiterated that Russia considers the Syrian rebels responsible for the chemical attack of 21 August. He noted that Moscow is “satisfied” that the Syrian president responded “promptly and positively” to the Russian proposal for placing the chemical weapons under international control .
However, the Russian diplomat stressed that a particular solution can not be imposed to a party or the other because only the Syrians themselves can solve problems in their country and can decide their fate.
According to Lavrov, the Syrian government and opposition should work together, and if people are determined to change the regime, “we will be drawn into a lengthy civil war.”
Lavrov said that Russia does not necessarily want to preserve the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
“We are not concerned with any personality. We are concerned with keeping Syria in one piece, territorially integral, sovereign, independent and secular, where the rights of all groups, ethnic and others, are fully respected. And that is the goal which I believe the United States also has. The more we try to find common approaches to get there, the more efficient our cooperation will be,” he added.
Regarding the evolution of Russian-American relations , Russian Foreign Minister said that Moscow and Washington cooperate in several areas , such as nuclear and visa facilitation.
“We also cooperate on many other issues. Nuclear energy, for example. We agreed on visa facilitations. Now American and Russian tourists and businessmen can ask for three-year multiple visas, and the waiting time should not be more than 14 days,” said Lavrov.
Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, signed on September 14 in Geneva an agreement on Syrian chemical weapons destruction. To implement this commitment, Russia, an ally of Damascus regime, opposes any reference to a possible use of force against the Syrian regime.
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