Swedish statement at the United Nations Security Council meeting on the Letter dated 13 March 2018 from the Chargé d’affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland addressed to the President of the Security Council

Thank you, Mr President,

I would like to begin by thanking the delegation of the United Kingdom for updating the Council on the use of nerve agents in Salisbury on 04 March.

Sweden condemns in the strongest terms the attempted murder, on UK soil, using a nerve agent. We stress the seriousness of this incident; unprecedented in Europe in recent years. Those responsible for the attack must be identified and held to account for their heinous actions.

Given that a nerve agent developed as a chemical weapon has been used, and the possibility that the attempted murder has links to state actors, Sweden supports the decision by the UK to bring this issue to the attention of the Security Council and other relevant bodies, such as the OPCW.

We stand by the United Kingdom, and like other EU partners, express our strong solidarity with the UK government and support its efforts in dealing with this grave security issue.

Mr President,

We note that the Prime Minister of the UK, in her letter to the Secretary-General, states that the class of chemical warfare agents used was originally developed by the Soviet Union and then inherited by the Russian Federation.

Given this, and taking into account the principal victim's background, we support the UK's request that Russia provide an account of how the agent could have come to be deployed in Salisbury.

Let me also take this opportunity to stress the importance Sweden attaches to the ban on chemical weapons. These cruel and illegal weapons kill indiscriminately and have no place in the world. We need to ensure that the integrity of the chemical weapons convention is fully respected.

Thank you