Russia: Blackmail led to chemical weapons agency’s new power

MOSCOW – The Russian Foreign Ministry has denounced a vote that expands the authority of the global chemical weapons watchdog by allowing the agency to name the perpetrators of illegal attacks.

Member nations voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to empower the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to assign responsibility for chemical weapon use. Russia and 23 other countries voted against the move, which was initiated by Britain.

Britain’s claim that Russia was responsible for the March nerve-agent poisoning in England of a Russian former double agent and his daughter launched a political dispute that led to the expulsions of diplomats.

In a statement Thursday, the Russian ministry called the OPCW decision “odious” and claimed it came “as a result of political manipulation, direct bribery of a number of delegations and outright blackmail.”