Russia confirms its bid to cooperate on biological weapons ban as threat grows

MOSCOW, April 6. /TASS/. Russia is ready to cooperate with all interested states on the basis of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC), the Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

The convention, banning the development, production and stockpiling of biological and toxin weapons remains the main legally binding document, it said, confirming that Russia "is ready to cooperate with all interested states on this basis".

The threat of biological weapons remains real and even grows against the background of technological advance of dual purpose, the director of the ministry’s department for nonproliferation and arms control, Mikhail Ulyanov, told a meeting in Geneva marking 40 years since the convention came into effect, listing Russia’s initiatives on the issue.

They include a proposal to create a mechanism of investigation into suspected use of biological weapons, initiated by the affected state and carried out on its territory, as well as concrete measures of aid and protection in case biological weapons were used.

"Our package proposal also included the following elements: development of international cooperation for peaceful purposes, national implementation, confidence building measures, creation of a permanent consultative agency for monitoring technological advance related to the BWC," Ulyanov said.