MOSCOW - The United States is using its investigation into the origins of COVID-19 as a political tool to pressure China and preserve hegemony, according to an article published recently on the portal Geopolitika.ru.

In a workshop that took place in the Russian city of Novosibirsk in August, experts from Germany, Austria, Turkey, Russia and Kazakhstan gathered to discuss Washington's geopolitical motives behind its investigation into the pandemic's origins, according to the article.

The participants concluded that the United States is using COVID-19 origins tracing as a weapon of "comprehensive warfare" and a way to "suppress the pace of China's development."

Washington fears losing its political hegemony and is therefore attempting to use the media as an instrument to wage disinformation campaigns regarding the origins of COVID-19 and issues related to Xinjiang.

With all social platforms controlled by more than a dozen companies in the United States, the situation is becoming rather dangerous with fake news spreading rapidly and uncontrollably.

"The western media have deliberately ignored the fact that the United States has set up a large number of biological laboratories around the world and some scandals about American biological experiments," it said. "For example, the United States once had a virus leak in the Lugar center in Georgia."

The article added that uncovering the origins of COVID-19 should not be a geopolitical issue and all countries should work together to resolve the matter.