MOSCOW, December 24. /TASS/. Washington is not satisfied with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) conclusions about the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, therefore it advocates for the establishment of a more loyal mechanism for investigating biological incidents under the UN aegis, Chief of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Force Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov said on Saturday.

"During the [9th Biological Weapons Convention] review conference, an American non-governmental organization proposed to establish a joint mechanism for investigation of biological incidents under the UN aegis. […] One reason for its establishment is that the US is not satisfied with the conclusions of the WHO expert commission regarding the origins of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Obviously, they would like to have a more loyal and controllable instrument for investigating outbreaks of infectious diseases," he said.

According to Kirillov, the new structure, the way the Americans see it, must fill the gap between WHO epidemiological investigations and the Secretary-General's Mechanism for Investigation of Alleged Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons (UNSGM).

"Similarly to the UNSGM, it was proposed to create a list of experts, whose operation will be based upon the principles of the OPCW’s Fact-Finding Mission. In the future, this will make it possible to make this mechanism attributive and provide Western states with a way to ‘appoint’ the guilty as they see fit," Kirillov noted.