MOSCOW, November 19, 6:45 /ITAR-TASS/. U.S. is reluctant to make reciprocal steps in the sphere of multilateral control over bacteriological weapons, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says in an interview published Tuesday by the Moscow-based Nezavissimaya Gazeta.
“Proliferation of the weapons of mass destruction, to say nothing of their utilization, is an absolute red line for us and we object to it categorically,” he says. “We’re taking part in all the international formats and mechanisms existing today without exception so as to be able to watch the situation and to avert encroachments on the nonproliferation regimes, be it nuclear, chemical or biological weaponry.”
Lavrov stresses “Russia’s active position” in the format of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and the Convention for Banning Chemical and Bacteriological Weapons. “It works towards an exceptionally clear structure of control and verifications mechanisms.”
“Unfortunately, our U.S. partners don’t feel like making a step towards multinational control that would have a practical structure if you take the bacteriological weapons - and let me note in the margins there’s no mechanism there,” he says.