Turkish and Russian military vehicles patrol in the countryside of Rumaylan (Rmeilan) in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province near the Turkish border on Sept 16, 2021. (DELIL SOULEIMAN / AFP)
UNITED NATIONS – Russia will not engage itself in monthly UN Security Council discussions over the chemical weapons issue of Syria due to the lack of substance in the topic, said a Russian envoy on Thursday.
"It is a pity that this year begins with another briefing on the Syrian chemical file. Those meetings are getting on nerves due to their complete lack of added value," said Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia's first deputy permanent representative to the United Nations.
ALSO READ: Bolton warns Syria against using chemical weapons
Thursday morning's meeting on the Syrian nuclear weapons issue was the first open event of the Security Council for 2023.
"Alongside with other council members, we underscored repeatedly that there is no point in raising this topic every month just 'for show' to serve the internal political tasks of a number of Western states. This devaluates the discussion in the council and undermines authority of this body," said Polyanskiy.
READ MORE: China urges caution in handling reports on Syria's chemical arms
"In view of the fact that Director-General of the OPCW (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) Mr. F. Arias always comes up with unrealistic pretexts to justify his no-show in the Security Council for a briefing and gets by with issuing identical reports every month, we call to respect the time of Security Council members and optimize the schedule of such meetings," he said. "Unless this is done, we see no point entering in a discussion on this subject matter."