On November 19–30, 2018 the Twenty-Third Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CSP-23), followed by the Fourth Review Conference (RC-4), take place in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Representatives of the States Parties to the Convention, relevant international institutions and NGOs attend the events.

In the course of the sessions, the States Parties consider a broad range of issues relating to the elimination of chemical weapons, maintaining efficient CWC verification regime, development of international cooperation in the field of peaceful chemistry, as well as effective national implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention. The aim of the sessions is also to consider the recent cases of the chemical weapons use in a number of countries, and to adopt the mechanism to prevent such use in the future.

Besides, the Review Conference, being held every five years, is an opportunity for all States Parties to review the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and set a strategic direction for the OPCW for the next five years.

The Head of the delegation of Ukraine, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Mr. Vasyl Bodnar in his statement during the general debates strongly condemned aggressive actions of the Russian Federation as to the use of chemical weapons in the United Kingdom and defending the perpetrators of the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic. The Ukrainian delegation appealed the international community to continue the coordinated pressure in order to force Russia to stop threatening international peace and security, as well as undermining international law by exercising aggressive policy against its neighboring states, including Ukraine.

Ukraine supported the decision of the CSP-23 that confirms the authority of the OPCW not only to investigate whether chemical weapons were used, but also to determine who was responsible for the use. It was underlined that with its expertise and independent and impartial nature, the OPCW Technical Secretariat is well prepared to perform such a technical task of attribution. In this regard, Ukraine also supported a technical proposal submitted jointly by the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands to the OPCW Director-General to update the Annex on Chemicals by adding “Novichok” type chemical agents to the list of Schedule 1 chemicals.

In spite of desperate attempts of the Russian Federation and its satellites to block the negotiation process, the States Parties by overwhelming majority adopted the Program and the Budget of the OPCW for 2019, which, inter alia, upholds the role of the OPCW in conducting investigations of the chemical weapons use and determining the perpetrators of such crimes.

The participation of the delegation in the conference is in line with Ukraine's policy aimed at necessity to prevent the chemical weapons use and to bring the perpetrators to justice. Ukraine consistently advocates a position on the importance of full and irreversible chemical disarmament under effective international control and considers the Chemical Weapons Convention as an effective instrument in this area.