The United Nations has said it found no evidence Ukraine had a biological weapons program, while Washington and its allies accused Russia of spreading "disinformation" as a possible prelude to launching its own biological or chemical attacks.
Key points:
* Member countries used the session to accuse Russia of deliberately targeting civilians
* Russia's envoy said Ukraine has at least 30 biological laboratories carrying out "very dangerous biological experiments"
* Ukraine does have a network of biological labs working to reduce the likelihood of deadly outbreaks
Russia called the meeting of the 15-member UN Security Council to reassert through its envoy Vassily Nebenzia that Ukraine ran biological weapons laboratories with US Defence Department support.
No evidence was provided.
Member countries called the claim "a lie" and "utter nonsense" and used the session to accuse Russia of deliberately targeting and killing hundreds of civilians in Ukraine, assertions that Russia denies in a 15-day offensive it calls "a special military operation".
Izumi Nakamitsu, the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, told the council the United Nations was "not aware" of any biological weapons program in Ukraine, which had joined an international ban on such arms — as has Russia and the United States, along with 180 other countries.