Russia Says OPCW Does Not Prove Assad Role

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says the report by an international chemical weapons watchdog that confirmed a chemical attack in Syria doesn’t back claims by the US and its allies that the substance was dropped from aircraft. President Bashar Assad and his ally Russia have denied the government’s role in the April 4 attack, in which more than 90 people died, ABC News reported. Speaking Thursday at a conference in Moscow, Lavrov said: “The report released by the OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) yesterday said they were not sure that the sarin found there had been airdropped in bombs. They don’t know how the sarin ended up there, yet tensions have been escalating for all these months.” The US State Department has reacted to the OPCW report saying its findings “reflect a despicable and highly dangerous record of chemical weapons use by the Assad regime.”