Prominent social media users and conservative voices have amplified a baseless theory promoted by Russian state media accusing the United States of funding biological weapons laboratories in Ukraine.
The State Department, the Pentagon and the White House all denied the claims.
The United States has supported a number of institutions to prevent the production of biological weapons. Tucker Carlson, the host of Fox News, and others have made up statements from American officials that the labs are conducting research on biological weapons.
Mr. Carlson said on his program Thursday night that the Biden official in charge of Ukraine confirmed the story.
Donald Trump Jr., the son of the former president, said that Ms. Nuland's comments propelled the claim.
Robert Pope is the director of the Pentagon's Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, which helps countries in the former Soviet Union secure or eliminate nuclear and chemical weapons.
Pope said that scientists don't want to destroy all the bio weapons.
Ms. Nuland and Mr. Pope were mischaracterized by Mr. Carlson.
The under secretary of state for political affairs, Victoria Nuland, was asked by a senator if Ukraine has chemical or biological weapons.
The Ukrainians have biological research facilities which we are now quite concerned that Russian troops may be trying to gain control of.
If there was a biological or chemical weapon attack in Ukraine, would there be any doubt that Russia was behind it?
It is a classic Russian technique to blame the other guy for what they are planning to do themselves, according to Ms. Nuland.
The State Department said that Ms. Nuland was referring to Ukrainian diagnostic and biodefense laboratories. The biodefense laboratories counter biological threats throughout the country.
In a congressional hearing on Thursday, Mr. Rubio said that there was a difference between a bioweapons facility and one that was doing research.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is a nonprofit organization and publication.
Mr. Pope warned that Russia's invasion of Ukraine could damage laboratories in the country that conduct research and are supported by the United States. He said that some of the facilities may have pathogens that were used for Soviet-era bioweapons programs, but that the Ukrainian labs did not have the ability to make bioweapons.
There is no place that still has the kind of infrastructure for researching and producing biological weapons.
In an interview with the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Mr. Pope echoed Ms. Nuland's concerns about the laboratories falling into Russia's hands. He spoke about the Pentagon's support of 14 veterinary laboratories that provide Ukraine with sampling and diagnostic abilities to detect infectious diseases.
Should Russian forces occupy a city with one of these facilities, we are concerned that Russia will fabricate evidence to support their ongoing misinformation about these facilities.
The United Nations Security Council met on Friday to discuss Russia's accusations. Izumi Nakamitsu, the U.N.'s high representative for disarmament affairs, said the United Nations was not aware of any biological weapons programs.
Russia and Ukraine signed a treaty outlawing biological weapons. The Biological Weapons Convention does not have an independent body that can verify that countries are complying with the treaty. She pointed out that the reporting mechanism has never been activated.
Russia has claimed for years that the former Soviet countries were making biological weapons. There is no evidence for these claims.
Filippa Lentzos, an expert on biological threats at King's College London, wrote that she and other international experts had been given full access to the Lugar Center for Public Health Research, a laboratory in the nation of Georgia that receives funding from the United States.
Our group observed nothing out of the ordinary, or that we wouldn't expect to see in a legitimate facility of this sort.
Russian scientists had previously worked at the lab and the crisis reporting outlet Coda Story reported that Russian journalists had also visited.
The lab's director told the publication that if it were a secret weapon facility, they would be open to everyone.
Edward Wong was involved in reporting.
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