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• the U.S. will select the nature of response based on Russia’s action
• ‘There will be a severe price if Russia uses chemical weapons’ says White House National Security Advisor Jake Sulliva
White House on Friday clarified that it has “no intention” of using chemical weapons “under any circumstance” even if Russia uses such weapons in Ukraine.
The response came the day after Biden said NATO and the U.S. would respond “in-kind” if Russian President Vladimir Putin chose to use weapons of mass destruction.
“We will respond if he uses it,” Biden said on Thursday. “The nature of the response depends on the nature of the use.”
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However, on Friday, Sullivan said that by “respond accordingly”, Biden wanted to mean that the U.S. “will select the form and nature of our response based on the nature of the action Russia takes” and will do so in coordination with the allies.
“We have made considerable efforts to put ourselves in a position to respond effectively,” he said before a plane carrying President Biden landed at the Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport in Poland in the city of Rzeszow, which is less than 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Ukraine.
Moreover, Sullivan also reiterated, “There will be a severe price if Russia uses chemical weapons.”
Warning against chemical and bioweapons
While speaking to reporters on Wednesday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said using chemical weapons would change the nature of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
“It will be a blatant violation of international law and with far-reaching consequences,” Stoltenberg said, warning that such weapons could impact nearby NATO member countries.
The NATO alliance will soon provide Ukraine with equipment to protect against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons, said Stoltenberg, to counter Russia, which has a previous history of using chemical weapons, including on the battlefield in Syria, and against Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
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Frustrated with his slow progress in Ukraine, Putin has been increasingly signaling the possibility of using chemical or biological weapons to wipe out entire cities and force the country to surrender.
Earlier this week, Biden warned that Putin was falsely accusing the U.S. and Ukraine of using biological or chemical weapons to justify Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
“Russia has a long track record of accusing others of what they are either already doing or about to do, and that is the kind of projection that we’ve seen in the last couple of weeks. And it’s very scary,” Biden earlier said.