NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) – Ukraine has rejected Russia’s claims about bioweapons allegedly being produced in Ukraine. “Ukraine operates a healthcare system that fully complies with its international obligations and works in full cooperation with all relevant international organizations,” Ukraine’s Ambassador to the UN, Serhiy Kyslytsia, said at an emergency UN Security Council meeting in New York on Friday. “The rest is a bunch of insane delirium by (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and his henchmen, including the Russian representation at the United Nations.”
It is the eighth emergency meeting of the most powerful UN body since the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine – but the first requested by Moscow. The background to this is Russia’s accusation that the United States and Ukraine are developing biological weapons. International fact-checkers have already debunked claims about an alleged network of such laboratories. The UN also said it knew nothing about weapons of mass destruction allegedly produced in Ukraine. The US speaks of “propaganda” and a possible pretext for the Russians to use weapons of mass destruction themselves in the Ukraine war./scb/DP/he