The United Nations Security Council met on Friday at the request of Russia to discuss allegations by Moscow that the United States is using biological weapons in Ukraine.
The UN High Representative for Disarmament Matters told the Council that he is “not aware” of any biological weapons program in Ukraine, which has ratified an international treaty banning such weapons, as has Russia.
Russia convened the 15-member Security Council meeting to bolster its baseless accusation that Ukraine runs US-backed biological warfare laboratories.
US Representative to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, as well as US government allies, have expressed concerns that Russia may be spreading this accusation without evidence in order to launch its own biological or chemical weapons attacks.
During the meeting, members dismissed the claim as a “lie” and “outright nonsense” and used the session to amplify accusations that Russia deliberately tried to target and killed hundreds of civilians in its 15-day invasion that President Vladimir Putin calls the “special military operation”.
Russian UN envoy Vasily Nebenzya repeated the accusation, without providing evidence, that Ukraine has a biological weapons laboratory backed by the US Department of Defense.
Under a 2005 agreement, the Pentagon assists several public health laboratories in Ukraine to improve the safety of dangerous pathogens and the technology used for research. This project had the support of other countries and the World Health Organization (WHO).
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the US government was “deeply concerned” that Russia had convened the session on a false pretext to set the stage for its own use of chemical or biological weapons in the United States. Ukraine.
The Brazilian ambassador to the United Nations, João Genésio de Almeida Filho, defended that the Russian allegations must be independently verified. “Brazil believes that any allegations regarding the prohibitions set out in the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention are extremely serious and must be supported by solid evidence,” he said.
The Brazilian representative on the Council also reinforced that “Brazil firmly condemns the use and threat of use of weapons of mass destruction, including biological and chemical ones, by anyone in any situation”.
Source: CNN Brasil
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