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 possessing such weapons.
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She said Russia has long “supported a bioweapons program in violation of international law” and cited its military intervention in Syria in support of Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the alleged poisoning of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny in 2020 with Novichok. nerve agent.
“Now that Russia has made these false claims, and China has apparently supported this propaganda, we should all be on the lookout for Russia possibly using chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine or organizing a false flag operation using them. This is a clear pattern,” she added.
Now that Russia has made these false claims, and China has apparently endorsed this propaganda, we should all be on the lookout for Russia possibly using chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine or staging a false flag operation using them. This is a clear pattern.
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) March 9, 2022
Psaki made the comment after Russian officials accused the United States of developing such weapons in Ukraine.
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Igor Konashenkov, the chief spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, said that “it is clear that after the special operation, the Pentagon had serious concerns about secret biological experiments uncovered on the territory of Ukraine.”
Russia’s UN envoy Dmitry Chumakov on Wednesday urged Western media to cover “news about secret biological laboratories in Ukraine,” the Associated Press reported.
Kremlin spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also told reporters on Wednesday that Russia had concluded that “biological weapons components are being developed in Ukrainian laboratories near our borders.”
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Rep. Thomas Massey (R-Kentucky), who recently voted against a House resolution in support of Ukraine, on Wednesday escalated Russia’s claims over Twitterstating that he did not take “concerns about Ukrainian biological labs … until now” seriously.
There is so much propaganda on both sides that I haven’t taken the concern about Ukrainian biolabs seriously…until now. That’s a serious sworn confession from someone who would know. https://t.co/XkOu4ky9Xz
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) March 9, 2022
Britain’s Secretary of State for the Armed Forces, James Hippie, told the BBC on Thursday that if Russian President Vladimir Putin did attempt to use chemical weapons, he should expect an “international response.” The hippie didn’t say if he meant NATO or individual countries.
The British minister said he had read “very high-level intelligence” last week about the possibility of Russia using chemical weapons, and praised the United States for releasing its intelligence on the matter as a deterrent to Moscow.
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“President Putin should make it clear that the use of chemical weapons is the most heinous thing imaginable,” said Hippie.
“I don’t think it’s useful now to make any firm commitments about where that red line is. But I think that President Putin should make it clear that when other countries used chemical weapons, it caused an international outcry,” he added.
Grace Moon contributed to this report.