Russia has concerns over ‘intl partnership against chemical weapons’ as separate talks

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov on Tuesday raised concerns over “examples of separate talks” on a number of international issues that have emerged recently. One of them is the launching of the new “international partnership against chemical weapons” scheduled in Paris on Tuesday. It in fact represents a major blow to the convention on the prohibition of chemical weapons, according to Ryabkov. He added that the new initiative against “the unpunished use of chemical weapons” runs contrary to the international system for ensuring a legal approach to establishing responsibility for such kind of crimes and finding ways to prosecute those responsible for them, RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.