🎙 Statement by the Deputy Head of the Delegation of the Russian Federation, Deputy Director of the Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Konstantin Vorontsov at the thematic debate on Cluster “Other types of WMDs” in the First Committee of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly (New York, October 19, 2026) 💬 We consider the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction (BTWC) as one of the pillars of the international security architecture outlawed an entire category of weapons of mass destruction. The Convention has contributed significantly to the process of general and complete disarmament, reducing the risks of the use of biological agents and toxins for military purposes. ☝️ The Russian Federation, as the Depositary State of the BTWC, has consistently implemented all its provisions in full. However, we still cannot remove the problem of biological weapons from the international agenda. Some states continue military-biological activities against the provisions of the BTWC. The legitimate questions officially raised by the Russian Federation with regard to the revealed facts about the military-biological program in Ukraine in violation of the BTWC with support of the Pentagon and its affiliates, including private companies, remain unanswered. The analysis of projects carried out in Ukrainian laboratories leads to the conclusion that biological weapons components were being and are being developed in close proximity to the Russian territory. We consider any such activity as a direct threat to our national security. The admission by former US Director of National Intelligence Ms. Tulsi Gabbard of the facts of Washington’s long-term financing “risky” experiments with viruses at more than 120 foreign biolaboratories, over 40 of which are located in Ukraine, only confirms the validity of Russia’s claims regarding American military biological activity near our country. <...> The Ukrainian case strongly confirms the necessity of consolidated efforts of the international community to universalize and strengthen the BTWC regime. We consider that the main priorities in this direction are the resumption of the work with a view to developing a universal, legally binding and non-discriminatory protocol that would cover all the BTWC articles and provide for an effective verification mechanism as well as strict implementation of the BTWC at the national level. Russia intends to continue active efforts to strengthen the BTWC within the dedicated Working Group established by the decision of the Ninth Review Conference of the BTWC. We believe that only decisions taken by consensus can guarantee reliable implementation of the BTWC and prevent development and use of the biological weapons. <...> The Russian Federation was one of the founding states of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction (CWC) and, since its entry into force in 1997, has consistently made efforts to comprehensively strengthen this effective international mechanism, fully complying with its obligations. At the same time, a serious challenge to the effective implementation of this multilateral treaty is the extreme politization of the activities of the relevant Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which Western countries have effectively turned into a tool of political pressure and furthering of their geopolitical interests. <...> ❗️All of this threatens to erode the chemical weapons non proliferation regime and will ultimately lead to irreversible consequences, including the accelerated degradation of arms control and non-proliferation system as a whole. Russian Federation, as responsible State Party to the CWC will continue to take all possible measure to prevent the de facto privatization of the OPCW by Western countries. Read in full