Joint Statement

Statement on Ukraine and the Threat of Chemical Weapons

This statement does not necessarily reflect the views of all members of the Coalition, nor does it necessarily reflect the views of the affiliated organizations/employers of the individuals listed below unless otherwise stated.

Statement on Ukraine and the Threat of Chemical Weapons

Organized by the CWC Coalition

April 13, 2022

Members of the Chemical Weapons Convention Coalition (CWCC) and other interested parties, listed below, are deeply concerned about the possible use of chemical weapons in Russia’s war against Ukraine. 

Any use or threat of use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) – chemical, biological, or nuclear – has no place in any conflict and risks escalating the war far beyond the widespread destruction that Ukraine is currently suffering.

The use of toxic chemicals in war has been considered taboo for nearly a century and is completely prohibited under the 1925 Geneva Protocol and the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague has inspected and verified the complete elimination of Russia’s declared 40,000 metric tons of chemical weapons, as required under the CWC.

Ukraine is a party in good standing with the CWC, but Russia has been accused of using deadly nerve agents recently for assassinations in the United Kingdom and Russia, and has closely allied itself with the Syrian Arab Republic which has used chemical weapons numerous times over the course of its decade-long civil war.

We call upon Russia, in the strongest possible terms, to respect its solemn obligations under the Geneva Protocol and the CWC not to contemplate, let alone use or threaten to use, these globally banned weapons of mass terror. We also call on all parties to refrain from making unsubstantiated CW allegations for political advantage.

Signed by:

Mansour AbuRashid, Chairman, Amman Center for Peace and Development

Irma Arguello, Founder and Chair, NPSGLOBAL Foundation, Head of Secretariat Latin American Leadership Network (LALN)

Shakir Baacha, Research Fellow, CISS

Marie Chevrier, Professor, Rutgers University-Camden

Stefano Costanzi, Professor, American University

Michael Crowley, Dr., Honorary Visiting Senior Research Fellow, University of Bradford

Malcolm Dando, Professor Emeritus, University of Bradford

Maria Espona, Director, ArgIQ

Daniel Esteban, Argentine Council for International Relations (CARI)

Beatrice Fihn, Executive Director, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons

Hubert K. Foy, Director and Senior Research Scientist, African Center for Science and International Security

Alexander Ghionis, SPRU Science Policy Research Unit

Alastair Hay, Professor, University of Leeds (UK)

Muhammad Athar Javed, Director General, Pakistan House

Gunnar Jeremias, Project Leader, Hamburg University ZNF

Hazhar Kakayi, Lawyer

Kheder Kareem, KDP Foreign Relations

Mustafa Kibaroglu, Professor, Dr., and Dean of FEASS, MEF University

Daryl Kimball, Executive Director, Arms Control Association

Lynn Klotz, Senior Science Fellow, Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

Gregory Koblentz, Professor, George Mason University, and Member, Scientists Working Group on Biological and Chemical Security at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

Irene Kornelly, Chairperson, Colorado Citizens Advisory Commission for Chemical Weapons Demilitarization

Thomas Kwame Osei, Executive Director, Farmers Care Foundation, NGO

Mark J. Lambregts, Director, Green Cross of The Netherlands

Detlef Mannig, Founder, Mannig Counsulting

Ali Mahmoud, Organization Manger, A World Without Chemical and Biological Weapons – WWW

Sarkout Mahmoud, PR, Kurdish Organizations Network Coalition for the International Criminal Court (KNCICC)

Kathryn Millett, Director, Biosecure Ltd

Margaret Muturi, Professor, Kenyatta University

Kawa Nader Qader, High Commission, ICAN Kurdistan Network (IKN)

Animesh Roul, Executive Director, Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict

Benjamín Ruiz-Loyola, Facultad de Química, UNAM

Ralf Trapp, International Disarmament Consultant

Ahmet Üzümcü, Advisor to the CSR, Council on Strategic Risks (CSR)

Paul Walker, Vice-Chair, Arms Control Association

Craig Williams, Program Director, Kentucky Environmental Foundation

Jean Pascal Zanders, Independent Disarmament and Security Researcher, The Trench

*This statement does not necessarily reflect the views of all members of the Coalition, nor does it necessarily reflect the views of the affiliated organizations/employers of the listed individuals unless otherwise stated.