The fact that the United States is developing biological weapons, including such aimed at certain ethnic groups, has been confirmed, Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council Alexey Shevtsov said on Monday.
"It has been confirmed that the United States is developing biological weapons, including those aimed at certain ethnic groups," Shevtsov told the Russian newspaper in an interview.
The Pentagon has to disguise its military biological developments with civilian research institutes, the official said, adding that the US is trying to transfer its biological weapons program to other states, establish control over biological research and collect bio-materials and pathogens, including of especially dangerous ones.
In June, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the head of the radiation, chemical and biological defense troops of the Russian Armed Forces, said that according to approved strategic documents in the area of bioproduction and biothreats, the United States reserves the right to conduct dual-use research and manage the biological situation in its own interests.
The official explained that the Pentagon's biological and military projects around the world give the US access to potential biological weapons agents.
Kirillov noted that the unacceptably high risk of accidents in US biolaboratories is one of the reasons for their transfer to the territory of third countries, including Ukraine.