The UN Security Council scheduled a gathering Friday at Russia’s request to debate what Moscow claims are “the military biological activities of the US on the territory of Ukraine,” which was lately denied by the Biden administration.
“This is exactly the kind of false flag effort we have warned Russia might initiate to justify a biological or chemical weapons attack,” Olivia Dalton, spokesperson for the US Mission to the United Nations, mentioned late Thursday. “We’re not going to let Russia gaslight the world or use the UN Security Council as a venue for promoting their disinformation.”
The Russian request, introduced in a tweet Thursday afternoon from its first deputy UN ambassador, Dmitry Polyansky, follows the US rejection of Russian allegations that Ukraine is operating chemical and organic labs with US assist.
In response to this week’s allegations by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova — made with out proof — White House press secretary Jen Psaki issued a public warning Wednesday that Russia may use chemical or organic weapons in opposition to Ukraine, the neighbor it has invaded.
Psaki known as Russia’s declare “preposterous” and tweeted: “This is all an obvious ploy by Russia to try to justify its further premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack on Ukraine.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denied Russia’s allegation that Ukraine is making ready to assault with chemical or organic weapons. Like Psaki, he mentioned the alleging itself was a foul signal.
“That worries me very much because we have often been convinced that if you want to know Russia’s plans, they are what Russia accuses others of,” he mentioned late Thursday in his nightly handle to the nation.
“I’m an affordable particular person. The president of an affordable nation and cheap individuals. I’m the daddy of two youngsters,” he said. “And no chemical or any other weapon of mass destruction has been developed on my land. The whole world knows this.”
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby on Wednesday known as the Russian declare “a bunch of malarkey.”
Dalton mentioned “Russia has a well-documented history of using chemical weapons and has long maintained a biological weapons program in violation of international law” in addition to “a track record of falsely accusing the West of the very violations that Russia is perpetrating. “
An injured pregnant girl walks downstairs in a maternity hospital broken by shelling in Mariupol, Ukraine, March 9, 2022. (AP/PTI)
Dmitry Chumakov, one other Russian deputy UN ambassador, repeated the allegations Wednesday, urging Western media to cowl “the news about secret biological laboratories in Ukraine.”
A tweet from Russia’s Ministry of Defense, after Polyansky’s tweet calling for a council assembly, referred to a “briefing on the results of the analysis of documents related to the military biological activities of the United States on the territory of Ukraine.”
The UN introduced Thursday night that the assembly will happen at 10 am EST however then pushed it again to 11 am EST. UN disarmament chief Izumi Nakamitsu and UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo are scheduled to transient the council.
UN Stephane Dujarric reiterated Thursday what he mentioned Wednesday — that the World Health Organization, which has been working with the Ukrainian authorities, “mentioned they’re unaware of any exercise on the a part of the Ukrainian authorities which is inconsistent with its worldwide treaty obligations, together with on chemical weapons or organic weapons.”
The United States for months has warned about Russian “false flag” operations to create a pretext for the invasion.
The White House warning, and Dalton’s assertion Thursday, urged Russia may search to create a pretense for additional escalating the two-week-old battle that has seen the Russian offensive slowed by stronger than anticipated Ukrainian defenders, however not stopped.
The worldwide group for years has assessed that Russia used chemical weapons in finishing up assassination makes an attempt in opposition to Putin enemies like Alexey Navalny, now in a Russian jail, and former spy Sergei Skripal, who lives within the United Kingdom. Russia additionally helps the Assad authorities in Syria, which has used chemical weapons in opposition to its individuals in an 11-year-long civil conflict.
The Security Council held its month-to-month assembly Thursday on Syria’s chemical weapons with disarmament chief Nakamitsu criticizing the Syrian authorities for repeatedly refusing to reply questions on its chemical weapons program and urging the Assad authorities to take action.
Ukrainians cross an improvised path beneath a destroyed bridge whereas fleeing Irpin, within the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, March 8, 2022. (AP)
Last June, the pinnacle of the worldwide chemical weapons watchdog, Fernando Arias, mentioned its specialists investigated 77 circumstances in opposition to Syria and concluded that in 17 chemical weapons have been probably or positively used.
Nakamitsu ended her assertion on Thursday by saying: “The use of chemical weapons is a grave violation of international law and an affront to our shared humanity.”
“We need to remain vigilant to ensure that those awful weapons are never used again, and are eliminated, not only in Syria, but everywhere,” she mentioned.
US deputy ambassador Richard Mills mentioned that sadly, Syria has assistance on the council from its ally Russia, which he mentioned “has repeatedly spread disinformation regarding Syria’s repeated use of chemical weapons.”
“The current internet of lies that Russia has solid in an try to justify the premeditated and unjustified conflict it has undertaken in opposition to Ukraine, ought to clarify, as soon as and for all, that Russia additionally can’t be trusted when it talks about chemical weapon use in Syria , Mills mentioned.
Britain’s deputy ambassador, James Kariuki, advised the council that “the parallels” between Russia’s motion in Ukraine — “besiaging cities, killing civilians indiscriminately, forcing millions to flee in search of safety” — and its actions in Syria “are clear.”
“Regrettably, the comparison also extends to chemical weapons, as we see the familiar specter of Russian chemical weapons disinformation raising its head in Ukraine,” he mentioned.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
