Syria plans to send a large shipment of toxic agents out of the country this month, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told Russian state-run news agency Ria Novosti.

Syria intends to finish the process by March 1, which would be in line with deadlines set by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), he said.

The head of the OPCW urged Syria last week to speed up the process of removing the chemicals earmarked for destruction outside its territory.

The chemicals were loaded onto ships at the Syrian port of Latakia and taken into international waters for destruction.

The OPCW has set a target of destroying Syria’s “priority” chemicals by March 31 and its entire chemical weapons stockpile by the end of June.

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