UN Security Council meets to discuss Russia’s claim to use biolabs in Ukraine

The Russian mission requested a meeting #Security Council On March 11 to discuss the US military biological activities on the territory #UkrainePolyansky said.

Allegations of US “biological activities” in Ukraine were made, without evidence eviction By the Biden administration as a Russian disinformation.

“This is exactly the kind of false science effort we’ve been warning that Russia could start to justify a biological or chemical attack,” Olivia Dalton, a spokeswoman for the US mission to the United Nations, said late Thursday. according to To The Associated Press. “We will not allow Russia to shine a light on the world or use the United Nations Security Council as a place to promote their disinformation.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also denied the Russian accusations in a speech to his war-torn country, to publish Thursday on Facebook.

“No chemical weapons or any other weapons of mass destruction have been developed on my land. The whole world knows it.

“They are accusing us… by claiming that we are developing biological weapons, and claiming that we are preparing for a chemical attack. This makes me very worried,” noting that he is a father of two.

“They are capable of it,” he said, referring to Russia. “They have already done such things in other countries… and they will do it again,” he added. “Using ammonia? using phosphorous? What else have you prepared for us? “

Zelensky said that laboratories in Ukraine “are working in the field of ordinary science … not military technology.” He also warned that if Russia deploys such chemical weapons, it should prepare for “the most severe response of sanctions.”

He added: “We have been convinced over and over again, if you want to know Russia’s plans, see what Russia accuses of others.”

Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, Tell “The use of chemical weapons in any conflict and in any context is a serious violation of international law,” the journalists said Thursday.

A day ago, Dujarric Tell Correspondents report that the WHO is working with the Ukrainian government and that it “is not aware of any activity by the Ukrainian government that is inconsistent with its obligations under international treaties, including chemical or biological weapons”.

Elsewhere, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday also suggested that Russia’s accusations could be a “cynical” excuse for its actions.

Johnson: “The things you hear about chemical weapons, that’s straight out of the playbook.” Tell Sky News. “They started by saying that there are chemical weapons being stockpiled by their opponents or by the Americans, and so when they themselves deploy chemical weapons – as I’m afraid they do – they have a kind of ‘Maskirovka’, a fake story, ready to go.”

White House warned This week that Russia may use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki chirp That Russia has long “maintained a biological weapons program in violation of international law” and cited its military intervention in Syria in support of Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the suspected poisoning of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny in 2020. NovichokLike a nerve agent.

Psaki dismissed Russia’s allegations about the US-backed biolabs in Ukraine as “unreasonable” and “false”.

She also said during the White House news instructions Thursday that Russia has the “ability” to use such weapons against its neighbor. When asked what evidence the United States should support the claim that Russia possesses these types of weapons, Psaki said she would not “enter into specific intelligence” but reiterated that “Russia is the country that has a chemical and biological weapons program.”

Psaki’s comments came after Russian officials accused the United States of developing such weapons in Ukraine.

Dmitry Chumakov, Russia’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, urged Western media on Wednesday to cover “news related to secret biological laboratories in Ukraine,” according to the Associated Press. mentioned.

Kremlin spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters on Wednesday that Russia had concluded that “in Ukrainian laboratories near our borders, biological weapons components are being developed.”

The United States also responded to Beijing for echo “Conspiracy theories” of Moscow.

“This Russian military operation has exposed the secret of US laboratories in Ukraine, and this is something that cannot be dealt with in a routine way,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Thursday. according to to The Associated Press, echoing similar allegations he made earlier this week. “It’s not something they can manipulate by saying that China’s statement and what Russia has found are misinformation, which is ridiculous and ridiculous.”

While China claims that it has not taken sides in the conflict — neither publicly denouncing nor supporting the Russian invasion — state media and Chinese foreign ministry officials regularly echo Russian propaganda, and the Russian biolab theory has spread rapidly on the Internet, leading to its spread. Millions Views on social media platform Weibo.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba chirp Thursday: “The frenzy that many Russian officials imagine about the absence of biological or chemical weapons or dangers in Ukraine is deeply troubling and may in fact indicate Russia’s readiness for another horrific, false operation.”