MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/. The US is blocking any international initiatives on verification of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), Chief of Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Protection Troops of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov said.

"The fact of blocking of any international initiatives on verification of the Biological Weapons Convention by the United States is of particular concern. This excludes the possibility of checking operations of laboratories either in the territory of the United States or outside its borders. Activities on the BTWC floor occurred in 2023 once against confirmed fundamental unwillingness of Washington resume talks of creating a legally binding verification mechanism," Kirillov said.

Russia put forward more than twenty questions regarding violations of Convention’s requirements by Kiev and Washington. "No meaningful answer has been received in respect of any of questions thus far," he added.