According to Anatoly Antonov, Washington has something to hideWASHINGTON, February 1.
/tass/. The US authorities contradict themselves in statements concerning the work of American biological laboratories in Ukraine. Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said this on Tuesday, commenting on the words of the coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House National Security Council John Kirby that within the framework of biological activities in Ukraine, the United States pursued the task of preventing a pandemic and did not develop biological weapons.
"Americans contradict themselves. If such a program was purely peaceful, then why were the works so promptly curtailed? Why are these issues dealt with by the military, and not by civilian specialists?" - said Antonov, quoted by the press service of the Russian diplomatic mission.
"The answer is obvious: Washington had and has something to hide. This, by the way, is confirmed by Mr. Kirby himself, according to whom the projects were closed, and the laboratories were deactivated strictly before the start of their work. In other words, everything was done to ensure that the results of the research did not fall into the hands of the Russian military," the Russian diplomat continued.
As the Ambassador stressed, the Russian Defense Ministry "has repeatedly pointed to signs of the implementation of dual-use programs by the United States." "Moreover, the most controversial experiments are conducted outside the national territory. Here is just one example: since 2019, Washington has used Ukraine as a platform for experiments with HIV infection. The target groups were the most vulnerable categories of the population with a high risk of infection. The materials at the disposal of our military department prove the Pentagon's focus on creating components of biological weapons," Antonov added.
"It is not surprising that now Americans are actively transferring unfinished research in Ukraine to the countries of Central Asia and Eastern Europe," he said. "To divert the eyes, they shift the functions of the customer to civilian structures - the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Energy, the Agency for International Development. Obviously, they hope that this will avoid criticism and bring the Pentagon out of harm's way," the head of the Russian diplomatic mission explained.
"However, it is not yet possible to drown out the hype of the administration. In the United States itself, a number of investigations have been initiated related to federal biological projects, including strengthening the functions of strains, and side effects of vaccination. No matter how Washington tries to dodge, sooner or later it will have to answer the questions raised by the Russian Federation. It is important to remember: lies have an expiration date," the diplomat summed up.
The official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Major General Igor Konashenkov, reported on March 6, 2022 that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation during a special operation in Ukraine revealed the facts of a military biological program funded by the United States. As Konashenkov noted, the documents received confirm that the development of biological weapons components was carried out in Ukrainian biological laboratories located in close proximity to the territory of Russia.
On March 7, 2022, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stated that the country is not engaged in the development of biological weapons. US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, speaking on March 9 at a hearing in the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee of the US Congress, admitted that there are facilities in Ukraine where research in the field of biology was carried out, and that Washington tried to prevent them from coming under the control of the Russian forces. According to her, the State Department was "concerned that the Russian military might try to take them under control."
On June 9, 2022, the Pentagon reported that over the past 20 years, the US authorities have provided support to 46 different civilian laboratories, healthcare institutions and disease diagnosis centers in Ukraine, while the interaction was conducted for peaceful purposes. According to the US military department, there are no programs for the creation of nuclear, biological or chemical weapons in Ukraine.
