The United States and Western allies have accused Russia of spreading propaganda, misinformation and “nonsense” in the UN Security Council, claiming that Ukraine produces elements of biological weapons, according to Reuters.
On Friday, Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebeznya, sent a lengthy document to the Security Council and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres outlining Moscow’s accusations of “military-biological programs” in Ukraine.
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“The Ministry of Defense (Russia) receives more and more materials and analyzes them. We will continue to inform the international community about the Pentagon’s illegal activities in Ukraine, “Nebeznya told the Security Council.
He reiterated that Russia had information that “Ukrainian nationalists were dumping toxic chemicals in some areas in order to provoke and accuse Russia,” TASS reported. According to the Russian official, Russia did not claim that Ukraine has a military-biological program, but claimed that the United States has such a program, and Ukraine is used “in the dark.”
It was the second meeting of the Security Council in two weeks, consisting of 15 members, at the request of Russia, reminds Reuters.
Britain’s Permanent Representative Barbara Woodward called Russia’s letter “a disinformation of the desperate.” “We are witnessing a repeat of the amateur disinformation that we discussed and rejected last Friday. It was nonsense then, it is nonsense now,” she told Friday’s council.
The United Nations has previously said it has no information on any biological weapons programs in Ukraine, and UN Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu told the Security Council that the world body “has no mandate, no technical or operational capabilities. “to investigate Russian information.
Also read: Russia may plan to use biological weapons, warned Britain
US Permanent Representative Linda Thomas-Greenfield accused her Russian counterpart of proclaiming a “tirade of strange conspiracy theories” last week. “This week we hear the same thing, things that sound like they were emailed to him from some dark corner of the Internet. President Biden has a word for such talk: ‘nonsense,'” she said.
Thomas Greenfield also said that “it is possible that Russia plans to use chemical or biological agents against the Ukrainian people,” but did not offer any evidence of Washington’s concern.
Russia convened a meeting of the Security Council on Friday instead of the planned vote on Russia’s appeal for access to humanitarian aid and protection of civilians in Ukraine. Diplomats said the proposal would not be approved, and Nebeznya accused Western countries of “unprecedented pressure” on him.
Speaking at the Security Council, Nebeznya called “the height of cynicism” Washington’s attempts to accuse Russia of intending to use biological or chemical weapons in Ukraine, TASS reports.