A United Nations (UN) report released on Monday confirmed that chemical weapons were in fact involved in the deadly attacks in Syria last month.
The report reads that chemical weapons were most definitely used in the attacks in Syria on a “relatively large scale,” and that traces of sarin gas were found in the areas where the attacks took place. Evidence also linked President Bashar al-Assad and his regime to the chemical weapon use and resulting deaths.
According to the UN, Secretary Ban Ki-moon, who commissioned the report, stated, “The results are overwhelming and indisputable. The facts speak for themselves. The United Nations Mission has now confirmed, unequivocally and objectively, that chemical weapons have been used in Syria.” He added that there was no doubt the actions of Assad’s regime last month qualify as “war crime[s]”.
While various analyses of the evidence presented in the UN report show that the Syrian government was responsible, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who forged a deal with Syria to give up their chemical weapons, destroy storage sites, and join an international treaty banning the weapons, stated that it was unimportant to blame anyone for the attack, CNN reports. Lavrov said that the UN was tasked with finding evidence of the chemical attacks, not of who was behind the attacks.
Lavrov said on Tuesday that Russia would not support any resolution that involved a military strike on Syria, even in light of the new evidence, while the United States and France want to keep the threat of force an option if Syria does not comply with the deal.