Lending its support to China’s demand at the UNSC and accusing the United States of developing components of biological weapons in labs in Ukraine, Russia has asked the Americans to disclose information about the activities of 360 labs in the world that are allegedly controlled by the country.
“Over the past week, we have discovered new details indicating that components of biological weapons were being developed in Ukraine,” said the Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN Vassily Nebenzia, adding later that, “we fully support China’s demand to the United States to disclose information about activities of 360 US-controlled labs in the world.”
The Russian representative gave details of financial aid offered to select labs in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, and Lviv, while also saying that the Ukrainian authorities were in cahoots with the Americans to carry out dangerous biological experiments on Ukrainian territory.
“Simply speaking, Ukrainian authorities gave the Pentagon a carte blanche and let them carry out dangerous biological experiments on the territory of Ukraine,” Nebenzia said.
“We would not be surprised should similar facts come to light regarding the activity of US-sponsored labs in other parts of the globe. We call on states who provide their areas to the Pentagon for such experiments to carefully read contract documents regarding their cooperation with the United States in the biological area,” Nebenzia further said.
He went on to further allege that the US and Ukraine had violated the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), adding that the implications of the dangerous biological research “could have ‘spilled’ beyond the borders of Ukraine and even the entire region at any point.”
The Russian Embassy in the US had earlier demanded that the United States must immediately disclose information about its military biological activities in Ukrainian laboratories.
“We demand that the US side disclose information about military biological activity in laboratories on the territory of Ukraine as soon as possible. What kind of peaceful research we are talking about if the Pentagon stands behind these projects,” the embassy wrote on its Telegram channel.
Noting the remarks made by the UN Under-Secretary-General of Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu regarding biological activities relating to Ukraine, India said that as a country “it attaches high importance to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) as a key global and non-discriminatory disarmament Convention, prohibiting an entire category of weapons of mass destruction.”
R Ravindra, Deputy Permanent Representative at UNSC briefing said, “It is important to ensure full and effective implementation of the BTWC in letter and spirit. We also believe that any matter relating to obligations under the BTWC should be addressed as per the provisions of the Convention and through consultations and cooperation between the parties concerned.”
In March, the Russian Defense Ministry is said to have unveiled new findings after analyzing documents obtained from experts from Ukrainian laboratories. Igor Kirillov, the chief of the Russian armed forces’ radiation, chemical, and biological defence, said that the Pentagon created a network of over 30 biological laboratories in Ukrainian territory.
According to Kirillov, the United States removed all materials necessary for further research from Ukraine after the beginning of Russia’s special military operation. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow may launch a consultation mechanism under the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) to discuss Washington’s non-compliance with the document.
Denying the accusations, a US Defense Department official said that the United States is not assisting Ukraine with biological weapons in its war with Russia and there are no indications that biological weapons are being used by Ukraine.
