Russian UN Mission: Moscow Disappointed with UNSC Voting on Biolaboratories in Ukraine

The UN Security Council did not adopt a draft Russian resolution on the investigation of the activities of American laboratories in Ukraine

UNITED NATIONS, November 3. /TASS/. Russia is extremely disappointed with the fact that the UN Security Council failed to adopt the draft resolution on investigation into the activities of US biological laboratories in Ukraine, First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said at the UNSC meeting on Wednesday.

"We are extremely disappointed with the fact that the Council failed to employ the mechanism of the Convention on Biological and Toxin Weapons today. It states that each member-country of the Convention obliges to cooperate in any investigation that may be carried out by the Security Council in accordance with the provisions of the UN Charter on the basis of a complaint received by the Council," he said after the voting.

Moscow will continue taking efforts on establishing all facts connected with the activities of US biological laboratories in Ukraine despite the fact that the UN Security Council did not welcome the idea to carry out such an investigation, Polyansky noted. "Irrespective of the result of today’s voting we still have questions to the US and Ukraine. The files appended to our complaint still require explanation. We will continue acting within the framework of the Convention on Biological and Toxin Weapons and taking efforts necessary for establishing all facts connected with violations of the US and Ukraine on their obligations on the Convention in the context of activities of biological laboratories on Ukrainian territory," he said.

Meanwhile, Western delegations virtually sabotaged the talks on Moscow’s draft resolution, the diplomat stressed. During the two rounds of expert consultations the Russian delegation heard "from former Western partners only old points on Russian propaganda and the statements that the evidence presented by us allegedly carries insufficient weight," he said. "Meanwhile, all those conclusions were made single-handedly, preempting any findings of the UN Security Council and, in fact, substituting the decisions by the key UN body, which is responsible for maintaining the global peace and security, with their biased estimations. We regret that our Western colleagues virtually sabotaged the negotiation process on the draft resolution," he noted.

Earlier, the UN Security Council rejected the draft resolution readied by Russia, which suggested setting up its commission to investigate into the activities of US biological laboratories in Ukraine. Russia and China voted for the document, the UK, the US and France voted against it, while the remaining members of the Security Council, including Albania, Gabon, Ghana, India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico, Norway and the UAE, refrained from voting.