United Nations, Mar 18 (AP) Six Western nations have accused Russia of using the UN Security Council to launder disinformation, spread propaganda, and justify its unprovoked attack on Ukraine.

And the US is again warning that Moscow's claim that the US has biological warfare laboratories in Ukraine “is really a potential false flag effort in action.”

Also Read | Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Says ‘War Against Ukraine Will Set Russia Back by Decades’.

Friday's council meeting was supposed to be for a vote on Russia's draft resolution on humanitarian relief for Ukraine which has been widely criticised for making no mention of Moscow's invasion of its neighbour.

Also Read | Russia-Ukraine War: Europeans Hoard Food in Panic Amid Russo-Ukrainian Conflict.

Russia instead raised allegations again of US involvement in biological warfare activities, which have been repeatedly denied by both the United States and Ukraine.

The six Western nations — US, UK, France, Albania, Ireland and Norway — delivered a joint statement just before the council session, saying: “This meeting and these lies are designed for one purpose, to deflect responsibility for Russia's war of choice and the humanitarian catastrophe it has caused.”

They stressed that Russia has long maintained a biological weapons program in violation of international law and has a well-documented history of using chemical weapons — not Ukraine.

“There are no Ukrainian biological weapons laboratories — not near Russia's border, not anywhere,” US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said.

Reiterating the Biden administration's serious concern of a potential false flag effort, the US envoy said, “We continue to believe it is possible that Russia may be planning to use chemical or biological agents against the Ukrainian people.” (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)