The United States urged both Syria and Russia on Friday to ensure that the remaining stockpile of Syrian chemical weapons is handed over to UN inspectors for destruction.
“We still continue to believe that the Assad regime can and must begin to take the necessary steps, including the packaging and destruction of certain materials on the site to demonstrate it is determined to fulfill its obligation,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
The UN´s Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is overseeing the elimination of Syria´s toxic arms, has said some 92 percent of the declared stockpile has been removed from the country or destroyed.
But UN Special Coordinator Sigrid Kaag said Thursday that dangerous conditions on the ground have made it impossible to access the remaining chemical weapons containers.
