Britain, the United States and 18 other members of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) have voted down a proposal by Russia to add a broad array of deadly agents to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) arms control treaty.
The British delegation to the OPCW announced in a tweet on Monday that it was joining a 20-nation group opposed to the move, shortly before the OPCW Executive Council members reconvene for a meeting in The Hague.
UK fully supports Canada, Netherlands, US proposal to add 2 families of novichok chemicals, including the substance used in Salisbury, to CWC control lists. This demonstrates resolve of international community to address very real threat posed by new types of chemical weapons.
— UK Delegation OPCW (@UK_OPCW) February 25, 2019
The OPCW meeting rejected Russia’s proposal in a 20-9 vote while 10 nations abstained from voting.
According to Netherland’s delegation, Russia had…