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Russia and China are doubling down on claims that the United States is conducting bioweapons research at “biolabs” in war-torn Ukraine – claims that leaders in Washington and Kyiv have called absurd.
Russian diplomat Dmitry Polyansky asked the UN Security Council to discuss the alleged study at a meeting on Friday, pro-Kremlin media outlet RIA Novosti reported earlier.
The report also highlights allegations by the Russian Defense Ministry that the US spent $200 million on Ukrainian labs for an alleged “biological weapons program.” Russia claims its troops unearthed evidence during Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, which he calls a “special military operation.”
“We have warned that this is exactly the kind of false flag we have warned Russia might use to justify a biological or chemical attack,” Olivia Dalton, a spokesperson for the US mission to the UN, told Fox News Digital Thursday. “Russia has a well-documented history of using chemical weapons and has long supported a biological weapons program in violation of international law.”
Russia also has a history of blaming Western allies for misconduct that it itself commits, she said.
“We will not allow Russia to gasify the world or use the UN Security Council as a platform for spreading its disinformation,” she added.
RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE: LIVE UPDATES
Norway’s Permanent Representative to the UN Mona Juul, Dmitry Polyansky, First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN and Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya speak at a UN Security Council meeting after Russia recognized two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent entities. New York, USA, February 21, 2022. (REUTERS/Carlo Allegri) #
Earlier Thursday, when asked what evidence China had in a daily briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Ljian offered no evidence but demanded that the US answer questions on the matter.
“What was the US doing at Fort Detrick and its 336 biological labs overseas?” he asked. “Does the activity comply with the provisions [Biological and Toxin Weapons Conventions]?”
Fort Detrick is home to the US Army Medical Research and Development Command in Maryland.
Earlier Thursday, U.S. Defense Department officials said there were five biological research labs in Kyiv that deal with “diagnosis, therapy, treatment, prevention, and vaccines” rather than military or biological weapons research.
“There are no U.S. Department of Defense bioweapons laboratories in Ukraine or anywhere else in the world,” officials said.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday called the claims of the global network of US bioweapons laboratories “absurd.” She also warned that these statements could be an attempt to cover up a Russian chemical or biological attack on Ukraine, noting that disinformation is part of the Kremlin’s weapon.
PHOTOGRAPHIC PHOTO: General view of the meeting of the United Nations Security Council after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the United Nations Headquarters in Manhattan, New York, USA, February 28, 2022. (REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo)
CHINA ACCUSES US OF “MILIATORY BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY” IN UKRAINE
“Now that Russia has made these false claims, and China seems to have supported this propaganda, we should all be on the lookout for Russia possibly using chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine or organizing a false flag operation using them,” she said. she. . “This is a clear pattern, and no one should fall for it.”
Russia’s request to the UN follows international calls for the country to remove its permanent seat on the Security Council.
“Moscow makes decisions in the United Nations because of its role as a permanent member of the Security Council,” US Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee said days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Russia must be expelled from the international community.”
RUSSIA’S REQUIREMENTS FOR US AND UKRAINE BIOLABORATORIES ‘ABSURDEN’ AND ‘UNTRUE’: US DEFENSE REPRESENTATIVE
When the Soviet Union collapsed 30 years ago, Russia inherited its seat as one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. The move was not contested at the time, but it gives the Kremlin veto power over the council’s decisions.
Moscow exercised that veto last month when the Security Council passed a resolution condemning Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also called on the UN to deprive Russia of its seat on the Security Council.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky speaks in Kyiv, Ukraine on March 10, 2022, in this frame from the video. (Press service of the President of Ukraine / via Reuters TV / handout via REUTERS)
“Neither chemical weapons nor any other weapons of mass destruction have been developed on my soil,” he said in a video posted to Telegram on Thursday, translated from Ukrainian. “The whole world knows it.”
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday that the US is aware of “biological research centers” in Ukraine being interrogated by Florida Senator Marco Rubio.
WHITE HOUSE WARNING RUSSIA MAY USE CHEMICAL OR BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS IN UKRAINE
He asked her if Ukraine had chemical or biological weapons.
“Ukraine has biological research facilities,” Nuland replied, “which are actually very worrying that Russian troops, Russian forces might try to take control of them, so we are working with the Ukrainians on how they can interfere with any of these research materials. “. from falling into the hands of Russian troops.
She also said that if anyone were to launch a chemical or biological attack in Ukraine, she “100%” believes it will be the Russians.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States led international efforts to secure and dismantle Soviet-era weapons of mass destruction, including in Ukraine. In August 2005, Washington and Kyiv agreed to cooperate to prevent the “proliferation of technologies, pathogens and expertise that could be used in the development of biological weapons.”
Ukrainian soldiers sit in a military vehicle during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in the Vyshgorod district near Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 10, 2022. (REUTERS/Sergey Nuzhnenko)
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In addition to failing to secure many Soviet weapons in the 1990s, Russia also has a history of violating international laws governing biological and chemical weapons, according to the White House.
Psaki said on Wednesday an attempt to poison Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and Russia’s support for Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad’s chemical weapons attacks on rebels within his own borders.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby also addressed the allegations on Wednesday, calling them “nonsense” and “classic Russian propaganda.”
“We do not develop biological or chemical weapons inside Ukraine,” he said. “This is not happening.”
Adam Sabes of Fox News contributed to this report.