Russian President Vladimir Putin's chief security adviser has said Moscow has "good reason to believe" the U.S. is developing biological weapons along the borders of Russia and China.
Nikolai Patrushev, who is the secretary of Russia's Security Council, made the comments during an interview with the newspaper Kommersant, in which journalist Elena Chernenko asked him about claims that China had "deliberately caused" the coronavirus pandemic.
Defending Beijing, Patrushev replied: "I suggest that you look at how more and more biological laboratories under U.S. control are growing considerably in the world and by a strange coincidence, mainly by the Russian and Chinese borders."
Russia shares land borders with 16 countries—the most of any nation in the world. China shares frontiers with 14 countries, as well as the special administrative region of Hong Kong. Patrushev did not name any specific countries, but said: "Americans help local scientists develop new ways to fight dangerous diseases."
