US biological activities in Ukraine a "devil's plan": Russian Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW, March 28 (Xinhua) - Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova called Washington's military biological activities in Ukraine a "devil's plan," Russia's RIA Novosti news agency reported Sunday.

A global treaty bans research or stockpiling of biological weapons – but allows bioweapon defense planning. (Photo: AFP)

"There are too many gaps in this diabolical plan that still have to be filled," Zakharova said.

Russia's Defense Ministry said earlier that the United States invested more than 200 million U.S. dollars in Ukrainian biolaboratories, according to the report.

In this context, Russia will not rule out the possibility of launching a verification mechanism under the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, Zakharova said earlier.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that the laboratories in Ukraine were only a small fraction of more than 300 U.S.-funded laboratories currently scattered all over the world, adding that Russia would reveal new documents on their activities, the report said.