Russian Foreign Ministry: US biological laboratories in Ukraine violate the convention on military-biological activities

The correspondent of our publication in question to the Director of the Information Policy Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation recalled that last week the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva Gatilov spoke at a press conference following the Ninth Review Conference of the BTW (Convention on the Prohibition of Biological and Toxin Weapons). In 2001, the United States unilaterally disrupted negotiations on a legally binding protocol and opposes its adoption. Plus, the Pentagon biological laboratories in Ukraine were discovered.

"How in these conditions can you trust the West and count, in the words of Gatilov, on the fact that" common sense will prevail among Western countries, and they will cease to undermine the implementation of the KBTO "? - the journalist asked

Maria Zakharova noted that the situation is unacceptable and it remains unresolved in connection with the US military biological activities violating the convention on Ukrainian territory.

All this requires decisive action from the states participating in the convention, the Foreign Ministry even held specialized briefings on this score. In particular, the situation clearly demonstrates the need for urgent steps to strengthen the convention in order to have effective mechanisms to resolve such situations and prevent them in the future.

Together with the overwhelming majority of the parties to the convention, and these are 120 states, including Western ones, the Foreign Ministry assumes that the effectiveness of the convention would increase when adopting a universal legally binding non-discriminatory protocol concerning all articles of the convention with an effective verification mechanism.

The development of a tool that would ensure the reliable implementation of the convention and prevent its violation since 2001 has unreasonably blocked the United States. Despite the massive resistance of the Western country as a result of intense, methodical efforts at the recently held Ninth Review Conference of the Convention, Russian diplomats managed to achieve a consensus formation of a working group to strengthen the convention.

One of the activities of the group is verification and compliance with the convention. Russia intends to actively work in the new structure and reach an agreement on effective measures that in the future could become the main parts of the legally binding protocol in the convention. Together with like-minded people, with those who have a single view with us, we will continue to promote Russian initiatives aimed at the practical implementation of the convention.

These include the formation of mobile biomedical units within the framework of the structure for the development of international cooperation for peaceful purposes, assistance and protection in the event of the use of biological weapons and investigations in the event of alleged violations of the provisions of the convention, as well as the establishment of a committee to analyze scientific and technical achievements to analyze developments that contribute to the achievement of the goals of the convention and provide recommendations to States parties. We are also talking about the inclusion in the reporting form of confidence measures under the BTBTO, information on biological activities abroad in order to remove ongoing questions about such activity and create a mechanism for conducting investigations in connection with the alleged violation of obligations under the convention in connection with article 6.

Another question concerned East Asia. On December 9, Deputy Finance Minister of the Republic of Korea Kim Song Uk called on the DPRK to return to participation in the Expanded Tumangan Initiative. On the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry, this mechanism of intergovernmental cooperation was mentioned in July 2021. In particular, the issues of expanding the port of Zarubino and developing the relevant infrastructure are named. Chinese companies and the authorities of the surrounding province have long been interested in this port and access to it. What is your position today on these issues?

Maria Zakharova pointed out that the Russian Foreign Ministry welcomes the development of regional trade and economic cooperation in Northeast Asia, the departments of the economic bloc of the participating states are directly involved in the activities of the Tumangan initiative. In general, Maria Zakharova forwarded the question to the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation.