Russia: Europe smuggles chemical weapons into Syria

“Chemical weapons components have been delivered to Syria’s Idlib province from a number of European countries,” Vladimir Yermakov, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s non-proliferation and controlled weapons department, said in a statement on September 25.

Russia accused the West of supporting the staging of a chemical attack in Syria and then blaming the Assad government.

The diplomat said that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, is supplying allied militant groups with chemical agents with the aim of carrying out chemical attacks. Mr. Yermakov asserted that the threat of a chemical attack in Idlib remains.

Russia's statements show that the situation in Idlib remains complicated and the chance of a new escalation is high if militants try to sabotage the demilitarization agreement reached earlier this month.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also gave a speech at the United Nations Security Council meeting stating that Western countries were the forces behind the staged chemical weapons attacks on Syrian territory.

"On the issue of chemical weapons disarmament, we are in an alarming situation. First of all, regarding the actions of a number of Western countries against the Syrian government, there are more and more unfounded accusations of the use of prohibited chemical agents.

"We warn [the West] against new attacks on the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic under another fabricated pretext," the Russian Foreign Minister said.