With new sanctions against Russian scientific institutions, the United States is covering up its loss in the development of the COVID-19 vaccine and trying to prevent the Russian-developed vaccine from reaching Western markets, Senator Oleg Morozov said.
Earlier, the US put three Russian research institutes on the sanctions list, suspecting them of working on chemical and biological weapons. One of them is the 48th Central research Institute of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, which together with the Gamalei National research center for Epidemiology and Microbiology created a vaccine against the coronavirus.
"The United States is waging a war against Russian vaccines in two directions: on the one hand, it is a question of the prestige of American science, which once again lost to us and now covers its defeat with sanctions, and on the other - a naked calculation, namely, to close Western markets for our vaccine," Morozov said.
According to him, the US has miscalculated here.
"For many states, the fight against the consequences of the pandemic will be a priority, which means that the Russian vaccine will be in demand, regardless of the sanctions," the Senator said.
As Morozov stressed, the new sanctions speak to the growing political paranoia in the United States.
"But this "disease" is by a strange coincidence necessarily connected with American economic interests. For example, the sanctions against Nord Stream 2 smell bad of American shale gas," he explained.
Kosachev on new US sanctions: "Washington cannot compete on equal terms"
US sanctions against a Russian Research Institute developing a COVID vaccine show Washington's inability to compete on equal terms, according to Konstantin Kosachev, head of the International Committee of the Federation Council.
"Almost without exception, US sanctions are a tool for creating economic problems for competitors, not a means of resolving political differences. In this sense, they clearly violate both generally accepted norms of international law and US obligations to the WTO," Kosachev said.
According to him, this is why the Americans consistently break up the World trade organization. "It puts the US on an equal footing with its competitors. But Americans are no longer able to compete on equal terms. And then the right of force comes to replace the power of law " the Senator said.
"And this is once again done and clearly confirmed by the fact that this time the Institute working on the vaccine is sanctioned, which means that it is in the interests of all mankind. For the United States, the interests of humanity are nothing compared to their own," Kosachev concluded.
Slutsky considers US sanctions against Russian research institutes a manifestation of annoyance
The decision of the US authorities to impose sanctions against Russian research institutes under the pretext of their development of chemical and biological weapons may be caused by annoyance at the superiority of Russia in the development of a coronavirus vaccine, the Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, Leonid Slutsky.
"All this is a manifestation of unfair competition. The US does not hide that its main goal is to contain Russia, including by achieving military superiority. Hence the unilateral withdrawal from the cornerstone agreements in the sphere of strategic stability, and endless sanctions against Russian scientific enterprises of the defense industry," the parliamentarian stated.
He also does not rule out that "the next US sanctions could become a kind of manifestation of annoyance in response to Russia's achievement of primacy in the creation of a coronavirus vaccine." "Low and cynical, Washington is trying to put a stick in our wheels in all directions. But this, as we see, can not really affect the development of our country," the Deputy added.
Slutsky also stressed that "Russia has never conducted and does not conduct any hidden developments in the field of chemical weapons, being a responsible party to the international convention on the prohibition of chemical weapons."
Klintsevich responded with a proverb about new us sanctions against Russia
Frants Klintsevich, a member of the Federation Council's defense and security committee, expressed surprise at the inclusion of the United States in the sanctions list of three Russian research institutes, writes Vechernaya Moskva.
The Senator recalled that in 2017, in accordance with the Russian-American agreement, Moscow completed the disposal of chemical weapons and ammunition, while the United States "did not even begin to do this on certain serious positions."
"What chemical weapons? We do not produce it and comply with all agreements. They have everything in warehouses and storage bases. It turns out that they see a speck in someone else's eye, but do not notice the logs in their own," Klintsevich said.
According to the Senator, the United States is not satisfied that Russia had research institutes, the development of which can be called a breakthrough. At the same time, Klintsevich urged not to pay attention to the sanctions, since they have become commonplace.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Based on materials from RIA Novosti, TASS