The Western powers clashed again this Friday (18) with Russia and China in the UN Security Council over the alleged biological weapons that, according to Moscow, Ukraine is developing on its territory.
The highest body of the United Nations returned to debate this issue at the request of Russia, which had already taken the issue to the Council last week, in a measure that the United States, France and England described as a “strange conspiracy theory” and a “campaign”. of disinformation”.
As he did last Friday, March 11, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya insisted he had new evidence that showed the United States and Ukraine were collaborating in the development of biological weapons.
“The Russian Defense Ministry has uncovered more evidence showing that Ukrainian authorities were implementing biological projects for military purposes under direct US supervision,” said Nebenzya, who did not release that evidence.
In a 15-minute speech, the Russian diplomat discussed the alleged plans and listed several Ukrainian laboratories that Russia says were involved in these tests.
The UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu, reiterated that “the United Nations has no knowledge of a biological weapons program” in Ukraine, but stressed that the UN “has no mandate nor technical nor operational capacity to investigate this information”.
In a meeting almost similar to the previous one, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield reiterated that her country’s aid to Ukraine is transparent and that she is proud of that cooperation.
“There are no Ukrainian bioweapons labs near the Russian border, or anywhere. There are only public health establishments, and I proudly say that they are supported and recognized by the United States government, the World Health Organization and other governments and international institutions”, highlighted the diplomat.
Thomas-Greenfield went even further and said the Russian accusations could be a strategy to justify a future chemical or biological attack against the Ukrainian people.
The same thesis was defended by the French representative, Nicolás de Riviere. “France is extremely concerned that this disinformation campaign is the prelude to the use of a chemical or biological weapon in Ukraine,” he commented.
The US, UK, Norway, Ireland, Albania and France, which delivered the toughest speeches against Russia, showed their unequivocal alignment with a joint statement read before the meeting by Thomas-Greenfield, who spoke accompanied by representatives of the other countries.
Chinese support for Russia
On the other hand, and as happened in last Friday’s session, China reiterated its support for the Russian accusations and said that “any information and indications about biological military activities should generate greater concern and attention on the part of the international community to avoid damages.” irreparable”.
“Russia has further revealed the newly discovered relevant documents. The interested party should answer questions and provide timely and comprehensive clarification to dispel the doubts of the international community,” said Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jun.
The other countries of the Security Council were more moderate, without endorsing the Russian accusations, but also not going so far as to call them a “farce” or a “smokescreen”, limiting themselves to condemning the use of chemical or biological weapons, except Gabon, which insisted that the Russian accusations should not be “taken lightly”.
“We believe that any matter related to the obligations of the Biological Weapons Convention should be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the Convention and through consultation and cooperation between the parties involved,” said the representative of India, who called for an immediate halt to hostilities and respect for the sovereignty and integrity of states.
For its part, Brazil stressed that “extremely serious” accusations must be “completely based on solid evidence” and must be presented before an independent and impartial authority to confirm them, revealing its opposition to Russia having taken the matter to the Council. of security.
This position was also shared by Mexico, which indicated that the Biological Weapons Convention should be the instrument to resolve this type of issue.
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