China News Agency, Moscow, August 28 (Reporter Wang Xiujun) In response to the US sanctions on three Russian research institutions, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zakharova responded on the 28th via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website: There is no evidence of sanctions.
Zakharova said that the US move is not the right step for cooperation in fighting the epidemic. It gives the impression that the US sanctions are for the benefit of domestic pharmaceutical companies. Regarding its claim that Russian research institutions are involved in the biological and chemical weapons project, the United States, as always, has not produced any evidence.
Zakharova said that Russia has stopped developing chemical weapons during the Soviet era, and the Russian chemical weapons arsenal has been completely destroyed under strict monitoring and has been confirmed by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Russia will continue to earnestly fulfill all its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention. The Chemical Weapons Convention clearly spells out the mechanism for clarifying controversial issues. However, the United States has long been reluctant to take action within the framework of international agreements, and instead decides to take action on its own. The United States is currently the only country that still possesses chemical weapons but has signed the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Zakharova stated that Russia’s activities in the biomedical field are purely peaceful and fully comply with the provisions of the Biological Weapons Convention. People have questions about the biomedical activities of the United States in its homeland and abroad. There is no evidence that the activities of the US biological laboratories fully comply with the Biological Weapons Convention, because the US laboratories were once the center of major international scandals.
Zakharova said that Russia is concerned about the relevant activities of the United States in the former Soviet Union. In particular, the Richard Lugar Public Health Research Center established by the US Department of Defense in Georgia has caused many problems.
On the 26th, the United States announced sanctions on the 33rd Central Research Institute of the Russian Ministry of Defense, the 48th Central Research Institute, and the Moscow State Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technological Sciences. The reason is that the above-mentioned institutions are related to Russia’s biological and chemical weapons programs. (Finish)