Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said military-biological activity conducted by some countries outside their own territory raises serious concerns.
He recalled that the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention became the first legally binding international agreement to ban an entire category of weapons of mass destruction.
Lavrov said the main risks include the cross-border nature of biological threats, the possible misuse of biotechnology, and the potential use of biological agents and toxins by terrorists.
According to him, Russia sees the development of a universal, legally binding and non-discriminatory protocol with an effective verification mechanism as a key priority. Moscow also insists that participating states strictly comply with their obligations under the convention at the national level.
In June, U.S. intelligence released documents referring to more than 40 biological laboratories in Ukraine. According to the materials cited, the facilities received support from Washington and stored dangerous pathogens, including anthrax and the Ebola virus.
In early September, Russian Security Council Deputy Secretary Alexey Shevtsov said the U.S. side had effectively acknowledged conducting biological research for military purposes.