White House Warns That Russia May Use Chemical Weapons in Ukraine, Rejects False ‘Plot’ of American Pillars

Psaki said the United States is “in full compliance” with its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological Weapons Convention, which prohibit countries from developing or acquiring such weapons.

She said Russia has long “maintained a biological weapons program that violates international law” and cited its military intervention in Syria to support Bashar al-Assad’s regime And the suspect Poisoning Russian dissident Alexei Navalny in 2020 b NovichokLike a nerve agent.

“Now that Russia has made these false allegations, and China appears to have endorsed this propaganda, we should all be careful about Russia’s use of chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, or to create a false operation using them. It is a clear pattern,” she added.

Psaki’s comments came after Russian officials accused the United States of developing such weapons in Ukraine.

“It is clear that in the wake of the special military operation, the Pentagon began to have serious concerns about secret biological experiments that were discovered on Ukrainian soil,” said Igor Konashenkov, the main spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry.

Dmitry Chumakov, Russia’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, urged Western media on Wednesday to cover “news related to secret biological laboratories in Ukraine,” according to the Associated Press. mentioned.

Kremlin spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters on Wednesday that Russia had concluded that “in Ukrainian laboratories near our borders, biological weapons components are being developed.”

Representative Thomas Massey (R-Ky.), who recently voted against the House of Representatives resolution pro-Ukraine, inflated Russia’s allegations on Wednesday. Twittersaying he did not take “the concern about Ukrainian biological laboratories seriously… until now.”

On Thursday, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss Tell The UK press was “extremely concerned about the possible use of chemical weapons” and said such a move would be a “fatal mistake” on Russia’s part.

British Armed Forces Minister James Hebby. He told the BBC Earlier on Thursday, if Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to use chemical weapons, he should expect an “international response.” Hebei did not say whether he was referring to NATO or individual countries.

The British minister said he had read “high-level intelligence” last week about possible use of chemical weapons by Russia and praised the United States for publishing its intelligence on the issue as a deterrent to Moscow.

“President Putin needs to be clear that the use of chemical weapons is the most despicable thing anyone can imagine,” Hebe said.

“I don’t think it’s helpful to get into any firm commitment now about where that red line is. But I think President Putin needs to be very clear that when other countries use chemical weapons, it has caused an international response.”

Grace Moon contributed to this report.