Russia again vetoes bid to renew Syria gas attacks probe

United Nations : Russia has vetoed for the second time in 24 hours to block a UN Security Council resolution to re-authorise an investigation into the use of chemical weapons in Syria, media reports said on Saturday, reports IANS.

Friday night’s development was the third veto of an extension for the chemical weapons investigators in the past month, reports CNN.

After Russia vetoed a compromise 30-day extension of the mission proposed by Japan, US Ambassador Nikki Haley said that Russia “saw fit to waste our time”.

UK Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said he was “frankly astounded” that Russia would block a resolution to restructure how the mission operates to meet some of Moscow’s concerns. Swedish Ambassador Olof Skoog called for immediate additional private consultations. The Security Council was holding those consultations Friday night, but no further vote was expected.  The mandate for the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) to inspect for chemical weapons ran out at midnight on Friday.

Russia vetoed the resolution along with Bolivia. China was the sole country to abstain.