Russia continues to attack Lugar Centre after Tbilisi’s repeat invitation
Russia continues to claim that the Lugar Centre is funded by the US. Christopher Furlong/Getty Images.
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Russia has demanded access to all blocks and documentation of the US-built, Tbilisi Lugar Centre, and once again accused the lab of ‘conducting dangerous experiments’ following yesterday's repeat invitation from Tbilisi to receive Russian experts there.
Russia says that they want the visit ‘without the presence of international organisations, in a bilateral format.’
Russia continued to claim that the US funds 'dangerous experiments’ in the centre and ensures the security of its blocks, while the whole centre is under the full control of the Georgian government.
- Russia grills NATO, US for supporting Georgia, cites US-built Tbilisi Lugar Lab as dangerous
- Putin claims ‘alarming genetic research’ being conducted in US-built lab in Tbilisi
Russia, which occupies 20 percent of the Georgian territory, demanded access to the centre yesterday, after being invited there many times by the Georgian government and health officials.
Georgian health official Amiran Gamkrelidze says that Russia is angry as Georgia is no longer dependent on them and that the country does not have to send samples to Russia. Photo of the Lugar Centre: RFE/RL.
However, all the time Russia refused to take up the invitation.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry responded yesterday that what Russia says about the centre, which has played a crucial role in the fight against the coronavirus, is ‘absolutely ungrounded and false.’
The ministry said that despite having no obligation, Georgia is ready to receive a delegation, within the convention on prohibition of biological weapons, including Russian experts to the centre.
Head of Georgia’s National Centre for Disease Control Amiran Gamkrelidze also said that ‘as earlier, we are ready to receive Russian experts to the centre, we have nothing to hide.’
The Georgian Foreign Ministry says that Russia's accusations to the Lugar Centre has nothing to do with reality. Photo: Foreign Ministry press office.
- Georgian health official says Russia’s allegations about Lugar Lab in Tbilisi are false
- US Deputy Assistant Secretary Kent thanks Georgia for opposing Russian propaganda against Lugar Center
However, he stated that Russia uses the centre for political speculations as it is angered by Georgia’s foreign orientation.
The Lugar Centre, officially called the Center for Public Health Research, is located in Tbilisi and named after former American Senator Richard Lugar.
It became operational in 2013. The centre is part of Georgia’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), under the Georgian Health Ministry.
The construction of the centre was launched in 2004 based on agreements signed between Georgia and US in 1997 and 2002.
The Tbilisi-based Lugar Lab is capable of identifying the origin of certain cases of COVID-19 per its genetic sequence.
The Russian Foreign Ministry says that they are waiting for a response from Tbilisi to allow Russian experts to enter the US-built, Tbilisi Lugar Centre, which is now under the full control of the Georgian government.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs George Kent has thanked the Georgian Foreign Ministry for opposing Russia’s continued propaganda, ‘which was also echoed in China’, against the US-built Lugar Lab in Tbilisi, which is administered entirely by the Georgian government.
The US Embassy to Georgia says it is happy to see more Georgians are learning about the important work of the Lugar Lab in Tbilisi, which was constructed with the funds allocated by the US government.
The US embassy to Georgia has stated that as the world marks the anniversary of Georgian independence and celebrates Georgia’s success in combating COVID-19, the United States protests the ongoing, provocative ‘borderisation’ by Russian-led security forces along the occupation line of the Russian-occupied Georgian territories of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali.
Russian experts will be allowed into the US-built, Tbilisi Lugar Centre only with the presence of international delegates, within the convention on prohibition of biological weapons, and not in a bilateral format as Russia demanded earlier today, Georgian Prime Minister’s Special Representative in Relations with Russia Zurab Abashidze told IPN.
The US Department of State has condemned Russia's redoubled efforts of ‘borderisation’ amid pandemic.
The United States representative in the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe has responded to claims against the Tbilisi-based Center for Public Health Research by his Russian counterpart by calling the comments "disinformation" on Thursday.
A group of civic activists have dumped hundreds of flyers using a drone with inscriptions and the image of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin near the Stalin Museum in his hometown, Gori. The first page of the flyer is an excerpt from Joseph Stalin’s letter sent to Vadimir Lenin written in February 28, 1921.
Leaders of the Georgian two occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali have arrived in Russia to attend celebrations dedicated to the end of WWII amid threats of the coronavirus.
The so-called security committee of Russian-occupied Tskhinvali reports a Georgian citizen who ‘illegally crossed the so-called border’ on July 3 was going to catch bats in Russian-controlled territory.
The U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi says it is “appalled by reports of a cyberattack carried out on September 1 against the computer system of the Georgian Ministry of Health”, which resulted in several documents being stolen from the country’s Lugar Lab.
A foreign cyber attack on the computer system of the Georgian Ministry of Health took place on September 1, stealing documents from the country’s Lugar Lab, reports the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Georgia will not hold back from naming the perpetrators of the cyber attack on the computer system of the Georgian Ministry of Health was cyber-attacked, Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani stated earlier today.
It is universally known that in 2008,Russia carried out open, large-scale military aggression against Georgia, containing which became possible as a result of the unwavering support of the international community, primarily the United States and the European Union.Here, at the UN headquarters, everyone is well aware that 20 percent of Georgia's integral territories—Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali Region—are occupied by Russia,” Gakharia said.
The National Centre for the Disease Control (NCDC) announced yesterday that phone calls on behalf of its Richard G. Lugar Center for Public Health Research, also known as Lugar Lab, allegedly offering coronavirus medications are fake.