Ukraine’s president on Friday rejected Russian accusations that Ukraine possessed chemical weapons “or other weapons of mass destruction,” allegations he said were part of Russian propaganda to justify the invasion.
Volodymyr Zelensky said that “no other chemical or weapons of mass destruction have been developed in Ukraine.” He stressed that “everyone knows that.”
Zelensky threatened Russia that if it did anything against the Ukrainians it would “receive a response with more severe sanctions”, in a speech on the Telegram messaging platform, at the beginning of the 16th day of the Russian invasion.
He added that “our laboratories, which have their origins mainly in the era of the Soviet Union, perform joint tasks, and do not have military technology.”
Russia requested a special meeting of the UN Security Council on Friday to discuss what it called “US military biological activities on Ukrainian soil”.
In recent days, the Russian government has claimed that the military has discovered evidence of “emergency disposal” of antiquities in Ukraine, citing an alleged US-funded biological military program in Ukraine.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki warned that Russia may be planning to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine in response to Russia’s “false” accusations against Washington.
Psaki said Russia “has a great biological and chemical weapons program” and “a history of making up lies”.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also expressed concerns on Thursday that Russia would create a pretext to justify the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine.
“It’s part of his usual way,” he told Sky News.
The United Nations also confirmed that it was not aware of the existence of illegal chemical and biological weapons programs in Ukraine, noting that the World Health Organization (WHO), which works directly with the Ukrainian government, is not aware of any activity by Kyiv that does not comply with the obligations, on the basis of treaties International.
In the early hours of February 24, Russia launched a military attack on Ukraine that left at least 516 dead and more than 900 wounded among the civilian population and caused more than two million people to flee to neighboring countries, according to the latest data. United nations.
The Russian invasion was condemned by most of the international community, and responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and strengthening economic sanctions against Moscow.
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