NEW YORK, 9 January 2018 - The UN Security Council under the presidency of Kazakhstan heard a regular report of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons entitled “Progress in the elimination of the Syrian chemical weapons program”.

The report was presented by Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu.

The Council's members discussed the current work of the OPCW and also exchanged views on the outstanding issues contained in the report.

During the consultations, members of the Council outlined that the use of chemical weapons in Syria is unacceptable and violates all relevant international legal norms. In view of this, the Council underlined its commitment to continue efforts towards preventing the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

Kazakhstan noted that it is crucial to completely eliminate the threat of the use of chemical weapons in Syria in order to create the proper environment for de-escalating tensions in the conflict zones.