The United States and its allies are interested in tailoring the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) to suit their purposes.

This statement was made by the head of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Forces (RCBZ) of the RF Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov.

Therefore, according to him, at the conference of the BTWC member states, which was held from November 28 to December 16 in Geneva, it was not possible to reach certain agreements to strengthen the BTWC regime.

“Attempts by the United States and its allies to adjust the convention to suit their interests led to the fact that during the event it was not possible to reach agreements in principle to strengthen the BTWC regime, and the final document was adopted without a final declaration,” Kirillov said at a briefing.

Thus, the Western delegations blocked the key initiatives of Russia, China and other countries to strengthen the regime of non-proliferation of bioweapons under the pretext of their non-core and insufficient elaboration, Kirillov explained.

In particular, the proposal of the Russian Federation to resume negotiations on the development of a legally binding protocol to the BTWC with an effective verification mechanism that would include lists of pathogenic microorganisms, toxins, specialized equipment and would be comprehensive was not approved.

“The United States explicitly stated that it would not allow language on the importance of a legally binding protocol and verification procedures in the final document, although more than 120 countries supported this initiative,” said the head of the RCBZ troops.

In addition, Russian proposals were rejected on the exchange between countries of data on research and development in the field of biological protection, which are carried out outside their territory, and the use of mobile biomedical detachments within the framework of the BTWC.

Only initiatives to start negotiations on the formation of a scientific advisory committee to assess achievements in the field of science and technology did not raise any objections, Kirillov noted.

On the whole, according to him, the Western delegations lobbied for the adoption of decisions only on issues of interest to them, without regard for the priorities of other states.

Thus, the United States tried to pass a proposal to create a mechanism for the investigation of biological incidents under the auspices of the UN in order to fill the gap between the mechanism of the Secretary General of the world organization to investigate the alleged use of biological weapons and the sanitary and epidemiological investigations of the World Health Organization (WHO).

For this purpose, it was supposed to create a list of experts and adapt the principles of the fact-finding mission, which operates on the basis of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Kirillov said.

“In the future, this will make it possible to give the mechanism an attributive character and give Western countries the opportunity to appoint the perpetrators at their discretion,” the lieutenant general explained.

  • Igor Kirillov, Chief of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops (RCBZ) of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation

  • RIA News

  • © Press Service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

"Support" for global security

Meanwhile, the United States is trying to withdraw the work of American laboratories in Ukraine from the attention of the countries participating in the BTWC.

As Igor Kirillov noted, representatives of Washington reacted quite painfully to proposals to fix in the final declaration the facts of violations by them and Ukrainians of obligations under the convention and conduct of military biological activities on the territory of the republic.

At the same time, American diplomats tried to ignore all the evidence presented by the Russian side.

“Moscow has never been interested in hearing US answers to specific questions about biolabs in Ukraine, and therefore we intend to refuse any further clarification,” Kirillov quoted the head of the US delegation at the conference, Kenneth Ward.

According to him, this once again proves that Washington has something to hide, and ensuring transparency of compliance with the convention does not play into its hands.

In addition, today, according to the information available to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Pentagon is actively transferring unfinished research within the framework of Ukrainian projects to the states of Central Asia and Eastern Europe, and is also increasing cooperation with the countries of Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.

Recall that in March, the Russian Ministry of Defense released information according to which the United States actively financed the activities of a number of biological laboratories built by order of the US Department of Defense Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA).

It was noted that they were involved in the military biological program, in which work was carried out, including with the pathogens of anthrax and plague.

At the same time, Washington officially denied all accusations of carrying out any secret work with dangerous pathogens.

Thus, at a briefing on March 21, American leader Joe Biden “guaranteed” the absence of biological and chemical weapons in the United States in Europe and Ukraine.

In addition, he tried to divert public attention to Russia's activities in Ukraine, suggesting that Moscow allegedly wants to use weapons of mass destruction there.

“They (in Russia. -

RT

) suggest that Ukraine has biological and chemical weapons on its territory.

This is a clear sign that they are considering the possibility of using both (these types of weapons. -

RT

), Biden said.

  • American military man in a chemical protection suit

  • Legion Media

  • © Dudley Little

However, earlier, on March 8, Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, noted the undesirability of the results of the work of laboratories falling into the hands of the Russian military.  

In addition, the United States and its allies are making attempts at the international level to make the facts collected by Russia about Ukrainian laboratories null and void.

So, in November, they blocked the resolution of the Russian Federation on the investigation of the possible activities of these institutions.

The United Kingdom, the United States and France opposed the initiative.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the American envoy to the organization, said on November 2 that the submitted document was allegedly based on "misinformation, dishonesty, bad faith."

The United States is merely helping partners around the world to improve global health security and reduce the impact of infectious diseases on their societies, she said.

“We cannot allow such life-saving collaboration to be stigmatized,” she said.

And shortly before that, the UN refused to investigate the work of biological laboratories in Ukraine, citing the lack of an appropriate mandate and technical capabilities.

  • UN Security Council meeting

  • AP

  • © Bebeto Matthews

Unfavorable control

At the same time, analysts consider the behavior of the United States and its allies regarding Russian initiatives in the BTWC sphere to be natural in the current geopolitical conditions.

“The United States will not cooperate with Russia on issues that are of interest and concern only to her and her partners if it is not beneficial for them.

In addition, Washington is well aware of the fact that they are conducting activities that in many respects violate the agreements on the BTWC or are on the verge.

In this regard, the United States does not need any verification mechanisms for such activities.

They are fighting to maintain the appearance that they are following the provisions of the convention, ”said Vladimir Bruter, an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies, in an interview with RT.

In turn, the former member of the UN Commission on Biological and Chemical Weapons, Igor Nikulin, in a conversation with RT, recalled that proposals for a mechanism for checking the activities of countries in the field regulated by the BTWC were prepared by the Russian Federation back in 2001.

“However, even then the US and the UK took a sharp stance towards the initiative.

The West agrees to restrictions only when it feels that someone is ahead of it in some area, ”the expert said.

According to him, it is enough to recall the chemical weapons of the binary type, which the United States did not want to include in the list of prohibited ones.

“And only when they found out that the Soviet Union has the same program, they agreed to include this type of weapon in the OPCW convention.

So until Russia and China begin to catch up or overtake the United States in military developments, including chemical and biological ones, they will not take any control measures, ”Nikulin explained.

At the same time, analysts consider the expansion of the network of American military laboratories on the territory of third countries a real threat to world security.

From the point of view of Igor Nikulin, this state of affairs is fraught with new pandemics.

In addition, the behavior of the United States and its allies, denying obvious facts, only contributes to the growth of tension in the world and the undermining of trust not only in relations with Russia, but also with other states, Bruter is sure.

“The actions of Washington and its partners, manipulating international agreements and institutions in their own interests, are fraught with a further loss of confidence from the rest of the world.

All this leads to the fact that any other country will consider that it can neglect international obligations if it is to its advantage.

And this, in turn, will lead to an even greater increase in global tension and undermine stability, ”summed up Bruter.