Moscow Requests International Treaty Banning Bioweapons

In the wake of news of the discovery of lethal pathogens in Pentagon-backed labs in Ukraine, Moscow said Wednesday that it is necessary to implement an international treaty aimed at banning biological weapons. 

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The Russian military have informed that authorities from Ukraine ordered the extermination of highly pathogenic samples that were stored at U.S.-backed biological labs throughout the country. For its part, the Russian foreign ministry argued that such order was intended to hide the violations of the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), which was signed and ratified by both nations, Ukraine and the U.S.    

The ministry called for ruling a resolution regarding the BWC, in order to establish an efficient mechanism of verification, which has been obstructed by the U.S. since 2001, the ministry added. The BWC prohibits the development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpiling and use of biological and toxin weapons. The treaty was put into effect in 1975, however there is still no international monitoring organization to verify compliance.  

Attempts to establish such an organization have fallen on deaf ears, as Washington claims it would have only harmed U.S. national security and commercial interests. According to the Foreign Ministry's statement, activities carried out in foreign territories related to the use of biological weapons must be subordinated to the BWC.

 

In this connection, it was pointed out that Russia has been expressing its concern for quite a long time now about U.S. military-funded laboratories hosted by some surrounding nations. Moscow believes that Washington is carrying out military research in Georgia that could pose a threat to Russia.    

The Kremlin claims that the proposed treaty would keep the military-biological activities of the U.S. and its allies in check by verifying member states' compliance with the BWC. Along these lines, China urged the Pentagon to make a public statement on biological research conducted in foreign countries with its funding. Beijing claimed that the U.S. military-controlled 336 biological laboratories in 30 countries around the world.

The U.S. asserted that the labs are being used to monitor possible emerging infection threats throughout the world. However, Victoria Nuland, American Undersecretary of State, admitted that the U.S. was engaged in Ukraine's effort to destroy research materials so that Russia would not get hold of them, she disclosed.