(VOVworld) – On Wednesday, Russia and China sent a draft resolution to the UN Security Council to monitor extremist groups fighting in Syria, warning of a "clear and present threat" of chemical attacks, possibly in Europe.

Vitaly Churkin, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations, speaks at UN headquarters in New York on July 29, 2015 (Photo: AFP)

The draft resolution calls on countries neighboring Syria like Turkey and Iraq to report any move by armed groups to acquire or produce chemical weapons. Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin said that by asking for reports from member-states and the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) to monitor armed groups, the draft resolution dresses a "loophole" in efforts to prevent terrorists from acquiring and using chemical weapons. Western diplomats dismissed the resolution as an attempt to dilute the mandate of the JIM, which is working to draw up a list of perpetrators of chemical attacks.