EU States, China Waiting for Washington's Answers on Biolabs in Ukraine - Russian Diplomat

GENEVA (Sputnik) - Some countries of the EU were not opposed to further discussions on the issues raised by Russia regarding the activities of biological laboratories in Ukraine in the framework of the BTWC, Konstantin Vorontsov, the deputy director of the Department for nonproliferation and arms control of the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"We note that even within the Western camp there are countries that do not want to replace the truth with lies invented in Washington, that are at least prepared to recognize the need for further discussion of this topic, that seek to obtain from the United States detailed explanations in connection with military and biological activities in Ukraine, on the one hand, to understand this issue and, on the other hand, to remove this serious irritant that remains on the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) platform," Vorontsov told Russian journalists in Geneva, citing Spain and Portugal as an example.

The diplomat added that there is a group of countries that fully shares Moscow's claims regarding military and biological activities in Ukraine carried out in violation of the BTWC.

"This is a group of like-minded countries, including China, Belarus, Cuba, Nicaragua, Syria and several other nations," Vorontsov said.

At every BTWC event, this group of countries requires the US to answer questions raised by Russia, including providing additional explanations in connection with the development and use of drones as means of delivery of biological weapons, the Russian official explained.

"This group of countries also expresses its readiness to continue the most serious consideration of the claims made by Russia and does not rule out the possible additional use of the consultative mechanism provided for in article V of the convention," Vorontsov added.

China, during a consultative meeting of the BTWC, raised a number of questions to the US and Ukraine regarding the activities of biological research laboratories on Ukraine's territory, the diplomat said.

"For example, China, for its part, during the Consultative Meeting held in September 2022, detailed questions to the US and Ukraine regarding military and biological activities that were carried out on Ukrainian territory," Vorontsov explained.

These questions were in many ways similar to those raised by Russia, the diplomat said, adding that China also raised a number of "absolutely new" questions.

"But they also did not receive any proper response from either the US or Ukraine to remove these questions: there were no detailed explanations or real arguments that could satisfy both the Chinese side and us," the official said.

Geneva is hosting the Second Meeting of the Working Group on the Strengthening of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) from August 7-18. Vorontsov is leading the Russian delegation. The working group, in which all 184 member states can participate, has been authorized to adopt a report with recommendations to be submitted to BWC state parties at the 10th review conference scheduled for 2027.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a 2024 Democratic presidential candidate, said in an interview with Tucker Carlson on Monday that the US operates biological research laboratories in Ukraine for the purpose of developing bioweapons.

In February 2022, the Russian Defense Ministry discovered the existence of 30 US-funded military biological laboratories in Ukraine. According to Moscow, Washington has spent over $200 million to develop biological weapons at the facilities. Russia also said that the labs discovered in Ukraine constituted only a small part of a global network of over 300 similar facilities. The United States denies the Russian accusations.

In April 2023, Russia's upper house unanimously approved the report of the parliamentary commission, supported by the lower house, to investigate the activities of the US biolaboratories in Ukraine. Deputy speaker of the Russian upper house Konstantin Kosachev then said there were at least 30 US biolaboratories on the territory of Ukraine, adding that the Pentagon was the main "customer" of the bio-research, which may speak about the military nature of the research. Kosachev noted that the establishment of US biolaboratories in Ukraine indicates possible plans of the US to use its military against Russia.