99% of the declared stockpiles of chemical weapons around the world have been destroyed, but only the United States of America is delaying its chemical disarmament.
This was stated by the head of the Russian delegation to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of Russia Kirill Lesogorsky, today, Monday during the fifth session of the Conference on Reviewing the Work of the Chemical Weapons Convention in The Hague, May 15-19, where he continued: “Since its establishment, the OPCW has achieved "With great success, 99% of the chemical weapons stockpiles declared by the States Parties to the Convention have been destroyed in a verifiable manner. Chemical plants have been destroyed, and the production of these weapons has been dismantled."
However, Lisogorsky indicated, at the same time, that the United States "is still postponing the disarmament of its chemical weapons inside the country." The head of the Russian delegation stressed "calling on the United States to complete the destruction of the remaining chemical arsenal as soon as possible."
US President Joe Biden had previously expressed his country's readiness to complete the destruction of its stockpile of chemical weapons by the fall of this year.
The United States of America is still the only signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention, which still possesses a huge arsenal of these weapons. Russia destroyed its entire arsenal on September 27, 2017.
US President Joe Biden : No progress in talks about avoiding debt default
US President Joe Biden stated, in a press briefing, that talks with Republicans to prevent defaulting on the state's debt are still stuck and have not progressed.
US President: No progress in talks about avoiding debt defaultExpert: A US debt default may lead to a downgrade of the country's credit rating
Reporters in Philadelphia asked him if there had been any progress in consultations about the situation with raising the national debt ceiling. "No," the White House press service quoted the head of state as saying.
The US President's administration has previously warned of "catastrophic" consequences for the US economy, including huge job losses, if the US defaults on its debts.
In January, the United States exceeded the statutory debt ceiling of $31.4 trillion, after which the country's Treasury Department had to use emergency measures to continue its financial operations, and the US administration has been urging Congress in recent months to raise the debt limit.
The Republicans who control the House of Representatives agree to raise the national debt ceiling, but they are subject to significant spending cuts in the budget. The White House has rejected the demands, saying it is willing to discuss spending cuts, but lawmakers must raise the debt ceiling unconditionally.
In turn, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Congress that the administration may run out of emergency measures regarding achieving the national debt ceiling as early as June 1.
She has repeatedly emphasized that in this case, the country will face a federal debt default, which will lead to an "economic disaster" in the United States, and may also cause shocks in the global economy. In order to prevent this, Biden and congressional Republican leaders agreed to hold consultations.
The United States Department of Justice announced the arrest of a citizen who accused Chinese dissidents in Boston
Today, Monday, the US Department of Justice announced the arrest of a Massachusetts man on charges of spying for Beijing and providing it with information, pictures and names of Chinese dissidents in the United States.
According to the agency, "Agence France Presse", quoting the ministry, that Litang Liang, 63, was arrested on May 9, on the pretext of working for the Chinese government, without notifying the US authorities.
According to the ministry, the accused provided the Chinese government with information about pro-Taiwan Chinese dissidents and organizations in Boston, between 2018-2022.
He also organized a protest against pro-democracy dissidents in Boston, and provided the Chinese Ministry of Public Security with names and photographs of potential dissidents and collaborators.
If Liang is convicted of spying for China, he will face up to 10 years in prison, and may face an additional five years if convicted of conspiring to work for a foreign government.
For his part, State Attorney General Matthew Olsen said, "The United States will not tolerate Chinese efforts to interfere with public discourse and threaten civic activism in the country."
"This issue is a vivid example of Beijing's willingness to target any individual or institution in the United States that exercises its right to criticize China," he added.
Liang's arrest came on the same day that the Suzhou court in eastern China announced a life sentence for 78-year-old US citizen John Sheng-Wan Leung on charges of espionage.
The Chinese court in Suzhou did not reveal many details of the spying case involving Leung, but it will exacerbate tensions between Beijing and Washington.
Russian Federal Security Service arrested a former employee of the US embassy in Moscow on charges of espionage
On Monday, the Russian Federal Security Service arrested the former employee of the US Embassy to Russia, Robert Shunov, in Vladivostok, after accusing him of secret cooperation with a foreign country.
Investigators of the Russian Federal Security Service confirmed that "Robert Shunov is accused of cooperating on a secret basis with a foreign country or international or foreign organization."
As law enforcement agencies explained to TASS on Monday, the defendant was selected as a measure of restraint in the form of arrest.
It added: “In the course of operational search actions, law enforcement agencies, with the support of the Russian Federal Security Service, detained Robert Shunov in Vladivostok, and after interrogation, he was charged with a crime under Article 275.1 of the Russian Criminal Code (collaboration on a secret basis with a foreign state or organization international or foreign).
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