Military-biological activity by US, Ukraine violates BTWC — Russian envoy

Military & Defense November 28, 2022, 15:13

Gennady Gatilov recalled that at the consultative meeting of the BTWC member states on article 5, "Washington and Kiev failed to provide exhaustive answers to the fundamental questions raised there"

GENEVA, November 28. /TASS/. Military biological activities by the United States and Ukraine on Ukrainian territory are a violation of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), Russia’s permanent representative to the UN Geneva headquarters, Gennady Gatilov, said on Monday. Russia will be pressing Washington and Kiev for correcting the situation regarding the implementation of this convention, said Gatilov who is leading the Russian delegation at the 9th review conference of the parties to the BTWC, which has opened in Geneva.

Gatilov drew attention to the "exposed facts of military biological activity by the United States and Ukraine violating the BTWC on Ukrainian territory."

He recalled that at the consultative meeting of the BTWC member states on article 5, "Washington and Kiev failed to provide exhaustive answers to the fundamental questions raised there."

"We have not seen a proper, substantive reaction to the presented documents and testimonies that would shed light on the true nature of the interaction between the Pentagon and its contractors on the Ukrainian side in the military biological sphere," Gatilov said.

Due to the United States and its allies’ counter-productive stance Russia’s corresponding complaint was not satisfied. Also, Russia's proposal for an international investigation under article 6 of the BTWC under the auspices of the UN Security Council was blocked, Gatilov continued.

"As a result, despite the use of all mechanisms available under the convention for resolving disputes, the current inadmissible situation, directly related to the convention’s implementation remains unsettled," he stressed. "We will persistently demand the American and Ukrainian sides should correct it."

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