Russia unconvinced by UN report on Syria chemical weapons

Russia remains unconvinced by a report linking the Syrian government to the use of chemical weapons in at least three instances, the country’s U.N. ambassador said Thursday.

Vitaly Churkin said the report released Thursday lacked sufficient testimony, material proof and was full of contradictions.

“We believe that the proof is not there for any big action to be taken, it’s simply not there,” Churkin said following a Security Council meeting to discuss the report.

The report also found the Islamic State group was behind one attack involving mustard gas.

Virginia Gamba, who headed the inspection team under the joint auspices of the U.N. and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, defended the investigators’ professionalism and said they stand firmly behind their assessment and conclusions.

“All these technical questions coming up, of course, we can answer,” Gamba said. “The important thing for us is that everything we have done is in a transparent manner and we stand by it.”

A year ago, the Security Council created the Joint Investigative Mechanism to identify those responsible for chemical attacks in Syria in anticipation of possible sanctions.

The United States, Britain and France want the Security Council to impose sanctions on the Syrian government for using chemical weapons. But Russia, Syria’s closest ally, has repeatedly questioned investigators’ conclusions linking chemical weapons use to the regime of President Bashar Assad.

On Thursday, Churkin accused the investigators of overstepping their mandate by calling for those identified as using chemical weapons to be held responsible.

Gamba said her team only offered its conclusions in the report but did not provide any recommendations.

“The leadership panel strongly believes that those with effective control in the military units referred to in this report or others responsible for the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic must be held accountable,” Gamba said.