MOSCOW, June 3. /TASS/. The development of biological weapons around the world should be banned just like nuclear weapons tests, a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Armais Kamalov said in an interview with TASS on Thursday.
"There are a lot of labs, which are bankrolled today by the United States Department of Defense. It’s no secret that they are in Georgia, Armenia and other republics. It’s surprising that access to such labs is off-limits, and we don’t understand what they are doing there. We can only guess. That’s why, I believe that the development of genetically-engineered viruses as biological weapons should be subject to the same worldwide ban as the testing of nuclear weapons," Kamalov specified.
The scientist, who was a Russian co-chair at the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) for several years, noted that medics understand what mankind could face in the future. "Cooperation between doctors is important. That’s because doctors like no one else understand where man-made, biological and military disasters could lead to, and what mankind could face. We should sound the alarm and to a certain degree, be the ones who must prevent the use of such technologies," the veteran expert noted.
Touching on the interaction between doctors and scientists of various countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, Kamalov recalled that there were statements that the coronavirus had been caused by humans and a search for those to blame for the pandemic was underway. "That is bound to be alarming. The world community should take control of labs engaged in questionable biological research," the scientist emphasized.
Earlier the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing said several biological labs in post-Soviet states had been built or modernized thanks to the Pentagon’s funding. They are located in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine.