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The United States and its allies on Friday accused Russia of using the UN Security Council to attempt to launder disinformation and conspiracy theories as a Moscow spokesman accused the US of being involved in biological weapons projects in Ukraine.
“Russia is again trying this morning to use this Council to launder its disinformation, spread its propaganda, and justify its unprovoked and brutal attack on Ukraine,” the United States, Albania, France, Ireland, Norway, and the United States said in a joint statement. Kingdom said. “We know this because it is a well-worn play. Just a week ago they convened the Council under exactly the same pretexts, and we heard a long list of pompous and ridiculous lies.
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Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya (right) during the meeting of the UN Security Council on the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine on March 17, 2022 at the UN Headquarters. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
The statement said the claims are “intended for one purpose: to absolve themselves of responsibility for Russia’s election war and the humanitarian catastrophe it has caused.”
Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya accused the US of helping Ukraine’s Defense Ministry build $32 million worth of Pentagon-funded bioweapon components.
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“More and more evidence is emerging that in the center of Eastern Europe, right up to the very last minute, dangerous military-biological activities were carried out, the consequences of which at any moment could spread beyond the borders of the country and even into the region,” he said. “The scale of the victims, including among the population of European countries, it’s hard to imagine that the coronavirus is nothing compared to this.”
Nebenzia’s claims were rebuffed by the first Izumi Nakamitsu, the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, who told the Council that the UN “is not aware of any such bioweapons program”.
She also drew attention to the death toll from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which, according to the UN Human Rights Office, is 780 people, including 58 children. So far, 2,032 victims have been recorded, but Nakamitsu said the actual number is believed to be much higher.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield accused Nebenzia of repeating “things that sound like they’ve been emailed to him on a chain in a dark corner of the internet.”
“President Biden has a word for this kind of talk—nonsense,” she said.
She said Ukraine has “government healthcare facilities that are proudly supported and recognized by the US government, the World Health Organization, and other governments and international organizations.” She noted that Russia has a habit of blaming other countries for what it plans to do and Russia’s own history of using chemical weapons against political opponents.
“We continue to believe that Russia may be planning to use chemical or biological agents against the Ukrainian people,” she said. “We are not going to glorify Russian disinformation or conspiracy theory, but we will continue to sound the alarm and let the world know where we think Russia is headed.”
The allies were also unimpressed by the Russian presentation.
– What are we talking about here? This was stated by the representative of Albania. “Non-existent chemical weapons programs in Ukraine are developed in non-existent laboratories and funded by non-existent programs. Russia’s claims… remain unverified, unsubstantiated, uncorroborated, and independently verified. In a word, they are not trustworthy.
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Great Britain was just as straightforward, calling Russia’s claims “nonsense.”
“Today’s charade is really unworthy of a permanent member of the UN Security Council. The only thing this Council needs to hear from the Russian Federation… is that Russian troops are leaving Ukraine,” said Ambassador Barbara Woodward.
Ben Evansky of Fox News contributed to this report.