Russia to Remain Active in OPCW Despite Losing Seat in Council

On Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Russia will continue to play an active role in the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) despite losing its seat in the Executive Council from 2024 to 2026.

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The Russian ministry said the United States and its allies have imposed their candidates from the Eastern European Group at the 28th session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which runs from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1 in The Hague.

The Western countries used "unprecedented political pressure, financial and economic blackmail and, often, blatant threats" to prevent Russia from being re-elected to the OPCW Executive Council, and secured a majority of votes for Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine.

Moscow "is grateful to all who did not succumb to such pressure, found the strength to resist the cynical dictate from the Euro-Atlantic allies led by Washington and Brussels and gave their vote for Russia, which rightfully belongs to a place in the OPCW Executive Council due to the largest chemical industry in the region and the most active position on this specialized international platform in countering the efforts of NATO and the European Union countries to turn it into an instrument of their geopolitics," the Russian ministry said.

The Executive Council is the governing body of the OPCW and consists of 41 OPCW member states that are elected by the Conference of the States Parties and rotate every two years.

The Chemical Weapons Convention entered into force on April 29, 1997, becoming the world's first multilateral disarmament agreement that provides for the elimination of an entire category of weapons of mass destruction within a fixed period.

The contemporary international regime for the disarmament of chemical weapons is headed by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, an institution that strives to achieve objectives such as ending the development, production, stockpiling, transfer and use of chemical weapons; prevent its reappearance; ensure the elimination of existing stocks of such weapons; and make the world safe from the threat of chemical warfare.