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Any country with Russia on bioweapons claims effectively supports Ukraine attack, US says
- ‘Disturbing’ that any country would lend credence to Russian claims of US -funded bioweapon labs in Ukraine, US State Department spokesman says
- Chinese envoy to UN hits back after US counterpart accuses Beijing of ‘spreading disinformation in support of Russia’s outrageous claims’
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Any country giving “credibility” to claims by Moscow of US-funded bioweapon labs in Ukraine was effectively aligning itself with Russia’s attack against Ukraine, the United States said on Friday, hours after a top Chinese diplomat said the unproven theories must be addressed.
Russia used an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council earlier in the day to allege an extravagant biological weapons conspiracy between the US and Ukraine, including a plot to weaponise migratory birds to spread pathogens around the world.
In a lengthy speech before the body, Russia’s UN envoy, Vasily Nebenzya, said Moscow had uncovered evidence of an “emergency clean-up” by Kyiv of a military biological programme conducted by Ukraine with Washington’s support.
The South China Morning Post was unable to verify the claims, which the US and Ukrainian governments have vehemently denied. On Friday, the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu, said the UN was “not aware of any biological weapons programmes” in Ukraine.
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While not repeating any of the specific details of Russia’s claims, China’s UN envoy, Zhang Jun, said Beijing had “noted with concern” the information released by Moscow and said it “should be properly addressed”.
Washington and its allies had a different take.
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“What you heard from the Russian Federation, I think it’s fair to say it rivals what you might see, what you might find on some of the darkest corners of the internet,” said US State Department spokesman Ned Price.
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