Refusal Of AUKUS Partners To Provide Data On Project Not Normal - Russian Envoy

Umer Jamshaid Published December 01, 2021 | 11:24 PM

The refusal of Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States to provide information on the AUKUS project is not normal and Russia expects more clarity going forward, Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, said on Wednesday

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st December, 2021) The refusal of Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States to provide information on the AUKUS project is not normal and Russia expects more clarity going forward, Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, said on Wednesday.

"First of all, this concerns not the United States, but Australia, because we are talking about the transfer of submarines into Australia and the possible construction of submarines in Australia. The elementary question is - what fuel will this nuclear reactor operate on? This is almost certainly going to be over 90% weapon-grade highly enriched uranium," Ulyanov told reporters.

The Russian ambassador pointed out that the United States and the United Kingdom do not possess the technologies to ensure the operation of a nuclear reactor using low-enriched uranium.

"As I understand it, only France has such technologies, but even this elementary question has not yet been answered. And during the session of the (IAEA) board of Governors, at the end of last week, we and the Chinese partners and a number of other countries raised the question that information is required, more clarity is needed on this matter," he said.

Ulyanov noted that during the session of the IAEA Board of Governors, the representative of Australia spoke, while the US and UK representatives did not even take the floor.

"And he once again didn't say anything. This is abnormal. This suggests that there is no elementary transparency. There is an information vacuum. And it's up to these three countries to fill this vacuum and correct the situation," Ulyanov said.