On November 29 – December 3, 2021 the Twenty-Sixth Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CSP-26) takes place in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Representatives of the States Parties to the Convention, relevant international institutions and NGOs attend the events.

In the course of the sessions, the States Parties consider a broad range of issues relating to the elimination of chemical weapons, maintaining efficient CWC verification regime, international cooperation aimed at strengthening of the regime, including national implementation of the Convention as well as discussions on the recent cases of the chemical weapons use in a number of countries.

Among the acute issues of the session – lack of cooperation with Syria on investigation of the facts of the chemical weapons use, as well as with Russia on the use of chemical agents against political opponents. In this regard the EU has made respectful statement condemning those who violate the CWC. Ukraine has joined the statement.

The Head of the delegation of Ukraine, Head of the Secretariat of the National Authority on the implementation of CWC of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Ms Kateryna Bila, in her statement has called upon the International Secretariat and CWC States Parties to apply the same approach towards Russia as it was appliyed towards Syria that lost its wright to vote because of the refusal from constructive cooperation with the OPCW.  

In spite of desperate attempts of the Russian Federation and its satellites to block the negotiation process, the States Parties by overwhelming majority adopted the Program and the Budget of the OPCW for 2021, which, inter alia, upholds the role of the OPCW in conducting investigations of the chemical weapons use and determining the perpetrators of such crimes.

Ukraine consistently advocates a position on the importance of full and irreversible chemical disarmament under effective international control and considers the Chemical Weapons Convention as an effective instrument in this area. All responsible in the chemical weapons use must be held accountable.