Russia cast a veto at the United Nations Security Council on October 24 preventing the renewal of the mandate for a mission that investigates the use of chemical weapons in Syria.
The investigation by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) – known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) – was unanimously created by the 15-member U.N. Security Council in 2015 and renewed in 2016 for another year. Its mandate is due to expire in mid-November.
