This May 5, 2017 file photo shows the headquarters of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), The Hague, Netherlands. (PHOTO / AP)

MOSCOW - Russia will continue to play an active role in the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons despite losing its seat in the Executive Council from 2024 to 2026, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The ministry said the United States and its allies have imposed their candidates from the Eastern European Group at the 28th session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention, which runs from Nov 27 to Dec 1 in The Hague.

The Western countries used "unprecedented political pressure, financial and economic blackmail and, often, blatant threats" to prevent Russia from being re-elected to the OPCW Executive Council, and secured a majority of votes for Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine, the statement said.

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Moscow "is grateful to all who did not succumb to such pressure, found the strength to resist the cynical dictate from the Euro-Atlantic allies led by Washington and Brussels and gave their vote for Russia, which rightfully belongs to a place in the OPCW Executive Council due to the largest chemical industry in the region and the most active position on this specialized international platform in countering the efforts of NATO and the European Union countries to turn it into an instrument of their geopolitics," the ministry said.

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The Executive Council is the governing body of the OPCW and consists of 41 OPCW member states that are elected by the Conference of the States Parties and rotate every two years.