War in Ukraine: Russia says it will not use biological weapons

One less threat to consider for kyiv?

Russia will not use biological weapons, a senior Russian diplomat said Friday at a press briefing in Geneva.

Konstantin Vorontsov, deputy director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Non-Proliferation and Arms Control Department, brushed aside fears that Russia could use these weapons.

"It's not a topic at all," he told a group of reporters.

Russia is "fully and totally committed to its obligations" related to international treaties that prohibit their use.

“We have no programs in the military field related to biological weapons,” the diplomat asserted, adding, “All our activities in the biological field are totally for peaceful purposes and no more than that.

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Konstantin Vorontsov was speaking on the sidelines of the review of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) which takes place every 5 years and which is due to end on Friday after three weeks of work.

The Convention bans the development, production and stockpiling of this entire category of weapons of mass destruction.

However, the absence of a verification mechanism has been its great weakness and a point of contention for two decades.

Moscow accuses Washington of being involved in secret laboratories in Ukraine

Konstantin Vorontsov also returned to the Russian accusations against the United States and Ukraine.

Since the invasion of its neighbor by Moscow, Russia has repeatedly accused Washington of being involved in the alleged development of biological weapons in laboratories in Ukraine.

In October, Moscow unsuccessfully asked the UN Security Council to investigate its accusations, which both Washington and kyiv vehemently reject.

The allegations were brought back to the table at the review conference in Geneva and Russian Ambassador Gennady Gatilov told reporters that Moscow had no intention of dropping the subject.

“We view it as a threat to our national security,” he said, accusing Washington of being militarily involved in secret labs “not only in Ukraine, but in many, many other countries…along the borders of the Russian Federation.

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Asked about the evidence available to Russia, the ambassador said that "thousands of documents have been seized" by the Russian troops which are as many proofs, according to him, of the existence of these secret military activities in these laboratories.

“We don't just talk about it.

We know the facts, ”he said, regretting that the United States or Ukraine never answered the questions.