Russia charges U.S. with developing biological weapons near its borders

Igor Kirillov, head of the Russian Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Forces (NBCP), accused the US on Tuesday of developing biological weapons near Russian borders.

Speaking at a plenary session in Russia's lower chamber of parliament, the State Duma, Kirillov said the Defense Ministry of Defense analyzed more than 2,000 documents, "confirming the implementation of military biological projects on the territory of Ukraine."

"Based on the results of the analysis of documentation and the interview of witnesses, we have no doubt that the US, under the guise of ensuring global biosafety, conducted dual-use research, including the creation of biological weapons components in the immediate vicinity of the Russian borders," he stressed.

For his part, Sergey Ryabkov, who spoke after Kirillov, said the US has not given any explanations in response to Russia's multiple requests, demanding to explain the documents.

"The questions that the Russian Federation posed to these countries (the US and Ukraine) and our claims remained unanswered. So, it is extremely important that the parliamentary commission conducted an investigation and the entire story was put on paper, this is the most serious proof of violations," he said.

Last year, Kirillov said Russia tried to establish a control mechanism within the framework of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) to prevent illegal military biological research, but the idea was strongly opposed by Washington.

The Pentagon is "actively transferring" research that it failed to complete in Ukraine to Central Asian and Eastern European states, he claimed.