Picture taken on October 30, 2013 shows employees in protective gear holding a dummy grenade during a demonstration in a chemical weapons disposal facility in northern Germany. (Xinhua/AFP)
MOSCOW, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday slammed the United States for questioning its commitment to eliminate chemical weapons after Washington announced new sanctions over the alleged attack in Salisbury of an ex-spy.
The U.S. State Department said on Aug. 8 that Washington will impose new sanctions on Russia over the alleged nerve agent attack on ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the British city of Salisbury in March.
"They prefer to ignore the fact that the Russian program for the destruction of chemical weapons, completed last year, was implemented under strict international control in full compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said it considers the "groundless" U.S. allegations as another attempt to portray Russia as an irresponsible global player.
It said the allegations look "especially hypocritical" as the United States itself is in no hurry to destroy its arsenal of chemical weapons and remains the only state party in the CWC with a significant stockpile of chemical warfare agents.
The ministry said Washington's current actions pose a threat to the integrity of the chemical weapons convention and damage the credibility of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
The United States once again demonstrated a disdain for the international law and the desire to use existing multilateral arms control mechanisms to advance its own political agenda, it said.
