On 5 February, the deadline expired by which the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) should have removed all chemical materials from Syria for their subsequent destruction. As yet, two shipments of chemical weapons have left Syria; they were loaded onto ships at the Syrian port of Latakia in January and taken to Italy. Once there, the plan is for them to be transferred to the American ship Cape Ray, which has been fitted with a hydrolysis system to process the chemical material, take them to neutral waters and destroy them. Cape Ray left Portsmouth two weeks late, having charted a course to the Italian port of Gioia Tauro, while at the same time the US administration began hurrying Damascus for the removal of their chemical weapons. It is planned that Syria’s entire chemical weapons arsenal will be destroyed by the middle of 2014. Washington is insisting that Syria must speed up its removal, placing all the blame for being behind schedule on Damascus.

As yet, the Danish and Norwegian cargo ships involved in the international operation have removed nearly 5 percent (35 tons) of the most dangerous types of chemical weapons from Syria. It is expected that 630 tonnes will be removed from Syria, a total of 41 declared chemical weapons facilities and 1,300 tons of chemical agents. The Director General of OPCW, Ahmet Uzumcu, is not ruling out the possibility of delays caused by problems associated with security, logistics, clearing procedures, and even unfavourable weather conditions. The joint UN and OPCW mission has also announced that the removal of the hazardous materials by the target date is unlikely. The reason is military opposition from rebels, groups of which are preventing the delivery of chemicals from facilities located throughout the country to the port of Latakia.

The OPCW is not criticising Syria, whose authorities, adhering to the obligations they have undertaken, have completed the destruction of all declared equipment for the production of poisonous gas, and are planning on removing a large shipment of chemical agents in February. Gennady Gatilov, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, believes that “they are ready to complete this process by 1 March, so within the deadline specified by the OPCW». In addition, Russia is proceeding on the basis that as the deputy to Russia’s representative at the OPCW, Vasiliy Titushkin, has emphasised, «the priority here is completely justifiably being given to safety, rather than speed». International UN and OPCW personnel, as well as local specialists involved in the operation to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons, regularly receive threats, and there have been fatalities among Syrian experts. The transportation routes for the chemical weapons components from their current storage location in Latakia pass through areas where the security situation is unfavourable. On 27 January, for example, a convoy transporting a shipment of chemical weapons was fired upon by rebels; the attack was beaten off. The Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Security and Disarmament Department, Mikhail Ulyanov, sees this incident as a weighty argument in favour of «a clearer understanding of the unprecedentedly difficult conditions in which Damascus is getting rid of its chemical weapons».

While implementing the decisions of the international community on the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons, however, Washington, which just recently announced its latest aid to the Syrian opposition, is paying absolutely no attention to the armed terrorist opposition. American diplomats are blaming Damascus for intentionally dragging out deadlines. While giving free scope to the rebels, who are attacking the convoys transporting the removed chemical weapons, Washington is also expecting the Syrian government to speed up the process. «We will continue to cooperate with our allies in order to put pressure on Assad’s government», declared James Carney, the White House Press Secretary. The US has also turned to Russia with a request to put pressure on Syria. State Secretary John Kerry, who spoke at the Munich Conference to the effect that the rate with which chemical weapons were being removed from Syria was unacceptable, has called on Sergey Lavrov to influence Syria with a view to speeding up the process.

America’s usual self-confidence is once again showing itself. «We know everything», is the pattern of thinking at the State Department. At present, the Americans are still gathering additional information that would enable them to prove the existence of hidden supplies of chemical weapons in Syria. US intelligence agencies believe that the Syrian government has hidden some of its chemical weapons in the country, as the consent of Damascus to part with its chemical weapons voluntarily does not fit with the American way of thinking. President Obama’s administration, however, is also unable to manage without some involvement from Russia. At a meeting of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, the head of the Pentagon, Chuck Hagel, reported that Syria still has a large amount of chemical weapons that Russia, most notably, is supplying to the Syrians.

Thirdly, America’s disregard for the high international status of the operation to rid Syria of its chemical weapons, which is typical of American diplomacy, is also making itself felt. Contrary to the opinion of the head of the OPCW, anxiety over the delays in removing the shipments of chemical weapons and precursors from Syria to be destroyed is being expressed by the organisation’s US representative, Robert Mikulak. According to Mikulak, the process has almost ground to a halt, and responsibility for the deadline failure lies completely with the Syrian authorities. The US representative is also worried that the transportation delays will mean additional outlays for the countries helping to transport and accompany the chemical weapons. Washington has enough money to arm Syrian rebels, but does not have enough for the chemical disarmament of Syria. Having rid Syria of its chemical weapons as a pretext for military intervention, it seems that the Americans are regretting the fact that Syria is now also one of the countries that has joined the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

It is impossible not to notice the White House’s painful attitude towards the leading role being played by Russia in Syria’s chemical disarmament. According to a number of congressmen, Obama’s administration is too dependent on Moscow on this issue. The White House Chief of Staff, Denis McDonough, is categorically denying this, however: «Well, we’re not dependent on anybody in particular. We’re going to make sure that the Syrians live up to their obligations. They have an obligation to the international community to do exactly what they said they’d do». But why, you may ask, are there American guarantees at all, when Damascus is voluntarily cooperating with the OPCW?

Moscow is strictly observing the allocation of responsibilities approved by the international community: it is the Syrian government’s responsibility to transport the chemical weapons to Latakia; while Russia and China, whose ships have already exported dangerous materials south of the Apennine Peninsula and are ready for the next voyage, are to ensure the safety of the operation in Syrian territorial waters… Russian naval task forces in the Mediterranean Sea, led by the nuclear-powered battlecruiser Petr Velikiy (Peter the Great), were involved in handling the problem on the Russia side. A staff coordination centre has been deployed on board the battlecruiser which, besides members of the Russian navy, also includes Danish, Norwegian and Chinese naval officers. The Russian Ministry of Defence has made particular mention of the fact that for the first time in history, Russian and Chinese warships worked together during the operation to transport Syria’s chemical weapons in the Mediterranean.

Russia, however, is not involved in the immediate liquidation of the chemical weapons. It is not yet known who will destroy the less dangerous chemicals. The OPCW invited commercial companies to take part in a tender announced on 20 December 2013. A month later, it became known that 14 companies had submitted bids, including Vector LLC of Russia. The company that was to be awarded the contract should have been announced on 3 February, but no announcement was made. Moscow, meanwhile, is in no doubt that the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal by 30 June 2014 – the deadline set by a UN Security Council Resolution – is completely possible.