MOSCOW, April 29. /TASS/. Russia will continue to investigate the activities of US biolaboratories in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Al Arabiya TV on Friday.
He noted that these laboratories held the most hazardous pathogens, including "tuberculosis, anthrax, cholera and brucellosis agents." "These are very hazardous substances, so, we have no doubts that this situation requires an investigation. And we will continue it," he stressed.
According to Lavrov, the topic of biological and chemical weapons requires more attention in the dialogue with the United States. "It is necessary to insist that they provide public explanations why they have once again postponed undertaking liabilities to destroy the entire chemical arsenal, why they have organized these military biological laboratories and rejected an inspection under the convention," he said. "We want clarity and will insist on responses."
The Russian top diplomat noted that the United States has bio laboratories in various parts of the world. "They are setting up laboratories around Russia and China. They even tried to drag Mongolia into this ‘game,’" he said.
"Such US activities constitute a direct violation of the biological weapons convention and demonstrate why the Americans are unilaterally blocking our proposals on verification mechanisms under the convention, which are supported by practically all other nations," he added.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said earlier that the special military operation in Ukraine produced evidence Kiev’s ruling regime was urgently eliminating traces of a US Department of Defense-funded military biological program in Ukraine. He said Ukrainian biolabs’ staffers testified that on February 24 pathogens of extremely dangerous diseases, such as plague, anthrax, tularemia, cholera and others were urgently disposed of.