11 Mar , 2022 By : monika singh
US President Joe Biden will call for an end to normal trade relations with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters. This would be the latest move by the US and its allies to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the largest war in Europe since World War Two.
The UN Security Council will meet on Friday at Russia’s request to discuss what Moscow claims are “the military biological activities of the U.S. on the territory of Ukraine,” reported AP. The allegations have been repeatedly denied by the Joe Biden administration.
Without providing any evidence, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova had earlier claimed that Ukraine was running chemical and biological weapons labs with the support of US. White House press secretary Jen Psaki called Russia’s claim “preposterous”. “This is all an obvious ploy by Russia to try to justify its further premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack on Ukraine,” Psaki had said on twitter, further adding, “Now that Russia has made these false claims, and China has seemingly endorsed this propaganda, we should all be on the lookout for Russia to possibly use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, or to create a false flag operation using them.”
Britain’s Deputy Ambassador, James Kariuki, told the council on Thursday that “the parallels” between Russia’s action in Ukraine and its actions in Syria “are clear.” “Regrettably, the comparison also extends to chemical weapons, as we see the familiar specter of Russian chemical weapons disinformation raising its head in Ukraine,” he said, as per AP report.
Indian vaccine maker Bharat Biotech said on Friday that the Russia-Ukraine conflict had not impacted the company's supply chains so far. Production of Bharat Biotech's homegrown COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin “has been fully indigenised, all (active pharmaceutical ingredients) and critical raw materials are manufactured within India,” the company said in an emailed statement.
China on Friday expressed deep concern over the worsening situation in Ukraine and offered to help play a “positive role” to restore peace but opposed the US and the EU sanctions against Russia, stating that they will hurt the world economy to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. Premier Li Keqiang, addressing a press conference here at the end of the annual Parliament session, said that China calls for exercising utmost restraint, preventing a massive humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
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