Syria Acts To Adhere to Chemical Weapons Convention, While Russia Doubles Down on Non-Compliance

Syria has taken key steps to eliminate its chemical weapons assets — but Russia has actually used its own stockpiles against Ukraine. That was the conclusion of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) — the group that oversees adherence to the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) — at a meeting in The Hague from July 8 to 11. OPCW member states now have opportunities for meaningful action to further improve Syria’s policies and punish Russia.

Progress in Syria

According to the OPCW’s 41-member policymaking body, known as the Executive Council, the new Syrian authorities have continued facilitating OPCW cooperation and investigations, following through on the commitment they made in December 2024 after they seized power, to fully dismantle any remaining Assad regime chemical weapons assets. During the fall of the regime in late 2024, Israel struck several Syrian chemical weapon sites, but the OPCW believes numerous capabilities remain unaccounted for.

Despite joining the CWC in 2013 and dismantling some chemical weapons assets under OPCW verification, the Assad regime repeatedly used chemical weapons against its own people throughout the Syrian civil war. Following prolonged non-compliance, OPCW member states suspended Damascus’ OPCW voting rights and ability to hold office in the OPCW in April 2021.

In February 2025, OPCW Director-General Fernando Arias and interim Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa met in Damascus, and Syrian authorities visited the OPCW in the Netherlands. The OPCW’s secretariat then released a plan for gathering the inventory of remaining chemical weapons assets and outlined activities “necessary to prepare a full and complete declaration and destruction plan.” In March, Syria’s foreign minister pledged to also ensure justice for victims of Assad regime chemical attacks. That month, and in April and June, the OPCW deployed teams to Syria, where they visited nine sites, gathered samples, and obtained new information about remaining assets.

At the Executive Council’s July meeting, OPCW Director-General Fernando Arias requested new declarations from Syria and coordination on the irreversible destruction of remaining assets. He also requested financial support for the Syria mission and legal authority for the OPCW’s on-site destruction of discovered Syrian chemical weapons facilities and assets.

Russia Commits New Violations Against Ukraine

Meanwhile, the OPCW reported findings from new technical assistance visits to Ukraine in February and March, confirming Russia’s ongoing use of riot control agents — banned by the CWC for use in warfare — against Ukraine.

The OPCW reported additional Russian uses of riot control agents following visits to Ukraine in September and October 2024 and independent assessments of samples taken from the Ukrainian front lines by two OPCW-designated laboratories. In December 2024, the United States established Russia’s use against Ukraine of a choking agent, chloropicrin, and various riot control agents, based on a U.S. government laboratory’s analysis of a gas mask filter utilized by Ukrainian forces.

Ukraine alleges Russia has committed 9,905 chemical attacks since the start of the war in 2022, and seeks the establishment of a special OPCW investigative mechanism.

Member States Must Support the OPCW

Chemical weapons dismantlement in Syria and Russia remains a worthy bipartisan goal. The Trump administration should build upon efforts during Trump’s first term, when it began the process of sidelining Syria at the OPCW and struck key chemical weapons facilities. It should fully resource and fund the OPCW’s Syria mission to ensure chemical weapons program remnants do not fall into the wrong hands. It should also support any decision at future Executive Council sessions to provide expedited destruction authorization to the OPCW secretariat. 

To censure Russia, the administration should spearhead an effort in the Executive Council to provide Moscow an ultimatum to demonstrate compliance with the CWC within 90 days or face suspension of its voting rights and privileges — just as Syria faced suspension following a lengthy period of non-compliance. Washington should also consider supporting the OPCW’s establishment of a special monitoring mechanism for Ukraine to further its investigations.

Andrea Stricker is a research fellow and deputy director of the Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from the author and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow Andrea on X @StrickerNonpro. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy.