The US president earlier urged the global community to end the development of biological weapons
Russia would gladly endorse US President Donald Trump’s idea to ban the development of biological weapons worldwide, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said, calling it a “brilliant initiative.”
Trump told the United Nations this week he was seeking to reduce the threat from weapons of mass destruction, adding that he was “calling on every nation to join us in ending the development of biological weapons once and for all.”
The US president also linked what he called “reckless experiments overseas” to the Covid-19 pandemic, echoing his earlier claims that the coronavirus originated in a Chinese lab – an accusation Beijing has vehemently denied.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Peskov welcomed the remarks as a “very important appeal” and a “brilliant initiative.” “Of course, Russia is ready to participate in such a process of renunciation from bioweapons, and it would be good to formalize it at the international level.”
The overwhelming majority of the global community, including Russia, the US, and China, are members of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), which prohibits the development, production, and stockpiling of biological and toxin weapons.
Moscow has for years accused Ukraine – which is also party to the BWC – of hosting Western-supported biological laboratories as well as using chemical weapons on the battlefield. In late 2024, Russian officials stated that the US continues to operate 30 biolabs on the territory of Ukraine as part of an illegal military-biological program, adding that it sought to expand the framework to Africa.
In 2022, then-US Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland, a prominent Russia hawk in the administration of Joe Biden, admitted that Ukraine has “biological research facilities” but dismissed allegations that they could be used for biological warfare.
Last month, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said American experts had finally started to take notice of Moscow’s concerns about biological facilities in Ukraine.
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