Theresa May Urges World To Act On Chemical Weapons

Earlier this year, Mrs May accused Russia of blocking international action to prevent the use of chemical weapons ​​​​​​(Picture: PA).

Theresa May has urged world leaders to crackdown on the use of chemical weapons.

The Prime Minister will address the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday and ask the international community to take a tougher stance on the issue.

In the wake of the Salisbury poisoning, the British Government has used its seat in the UN Security Council to push for diplomatic sanctions against Russia and the Assad regime in Syria for its use of chemical weapons.

In April, following joint US/UK airstrikes against a Syrian military facility, the Prime Minister accused Russia of blocking international action to prevent the use of chemical weapons.

At the time, Mrs May said:

“On each occasion when we have seen every sign of chemical weapons being used, any attempt to hold the perpetrators to account has been blocked by Russia at the UN Security Council, with six such vetoes since the start of 2017."

Russia is staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and earlier this month President Putin told a trilateral meeting with Turkey and Iran that:

"The legitimate Syrian government has a right and must eventually take control of its entire national territory”.

Speaking ahead of her visit to New York, Mrs May remarked: "The Syrian regime has repeatedly used these appalling weapons against its own people while the Russian state has deployed them on UK streets.

"Attacks such as Salisbury and Ghouta are despicable in their own right, but they are also a threat to the wider international system.

"Each time we fail to challenge the use or development of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) it erodes the framework of treaties we have built up so painstakingly over the past few decades.

"We worked closely with our allies on a co-ordinated response to Russia's use of chemical weapons in Salisbury, resulting in 28 countries as well as NATO joining us in expelling a total of over 150 Russian intelligence officers, the largest collective expulsion ever.

"But the international community needs to do more together, both to prevent future chemical weapons use and to ensure those who use them are held to account, but also to tackle the range of other threats to global security, including the proliferation of WMD."