Syria, Russia slammed at chemical weapons watchdog meeting

Syria and its close ally Russia are facing harsh criticism at a meeting of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons following an investigation that blamed Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime for a sarin attack that killed about 100 people in April.
At a closed-doors meeting of the chemical weapons watchdog's executive council today, US representative Kenneth D Ward said that Russia "continues to deny the truth and, instead, collaborates with the Assad regime in a deplorable attempt to discredit" the joint UN-OPCW investigation.
The text of Ward's statement was posted on the OPCW website.
Russia has denounced the results of the investigation into the Khan Sheikhoun attack and vetoed a UN Security Council resolution to renew the mandate of the UN investigative team, which expires this month.