Moscow. March 8th. INTERFAX - The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed the facts of the elimination by the Ukrainian side of traces of a military biological program, which was funded with the participation of the US Defense Ministry.
"We confirm the facts revealed during the special military operation in Ukraine of the Kiev regime's emergency cleanup of traces of the military biological program implemented by Kiev with the financing of the US Defense Ministry," said Maria Zakharova, an official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, posted on the ministry's website on Tuesday.
According to her, "documentation on the emergency destruction of especially dangerous pathogens of plague, anthrax, tularemia, cholera and other deadly diseases was received from employees of Ukrainian biological laboratories on February 24." In particular, Zakharova reports, we are talking about the instruction of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine regarding the "prompt elimination of stored stocks of dangerous pathogens sent to all biological laboratories."
These materials, according to the commentary, can be found on the Internet portal of the Ministry of Defense of Russia.
"Currently, the received documentation is being thoroughly analyzed by specialists of the radiation, chemical and biological protection troops. However, it can already be concluded that the development of biological weapons components was carried out in Ukrainian biological laboratories in the immediate vicinity of the territory of Russia. Emergency destruction of especially dangerous pathogens on February 24 was required to prevent the disclosure of facts of violation by Ukraine and the United States of Article I of the Convention on the Prohibition of Biological and Toxin Weapons (BTWC)," Zakharova notes.
These data, she believes, "confirm the validity of the claims we have repeatedly made in the context of the implementation of the BTWC in relation to the military biological activities of the United States and its allies in the post-Soviet space." "In the interests of their removal, we do not exclude the use of the mechanisms of Articles V and VI of the BTWC, according to which the participating states should consult with each other in resolving any issues regarding the purpose of the Convention or in connection with the implementation of its provisions, as well as cooperate in conducting any investigations of possible violations of obligations under the BTWC," the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry notes.
According to Zakharova, "in order to prevent military biological activities carried out contrary to the provisions of the BTWC, decisive measures are required to strengthen the BTWC regime." "We are in favor of resuming work on a legally binding Protocol to the Convention with an effective verification mechanism, which has been blocked by the United States since 2001. In this regard, we call for the creation of an open-ended working group within the framework of the BTWC, which meets the interests of the overwhelming majority of participating States," the commentary emphasizes.
In order to strengthen the organizational foundations of the Convention, Russia is promoting, according to Zakharova, "initiatives that enjoy broad international support to create mobile biomedical detachments at the BTWC site (to assist in the case of the use of biological weapons and to combat epidemics of various origins), as well as the establishment of a Scientific Advisory Committee (to analyze scientific and technical achievements and provide relevant recommendations to States)."
In addition, she notes, "we propose to include in the reports submitted annually by the States parties to the Convention within the framework of confidence-building measures information on military biological activities conducted abroad."