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White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the US had “no intention” to use chemical weapons after President Biden said his administration would respond “in kind” to Russia using such a weapon in Ukraine .
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Sullivan was asked on Friday what Biden meant by “in kind.”
Sullivan said that means “we will respond accordingly” and that Russia would pay a “heavy price.”
“We will assess the shape and nature of our response based on the nature of Russia’s actions,” Sullivan said. “And we will do so in coordination with our allies.”
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaks during a news conference at the White House February 11, 2022 in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
“And I’m not going to go beyond saying that the United States has no intention of using chemical weapons, period, under any circumstances,” Sullivan asserted.
US RESPONSE TO RUSSIAN CHEMICAL WEAPONS WOULD BE ‘IN TANGIBLE’: BIDEN
Pressed further, Sullivan replied, saying, “All I want to say is that Russia would pay a heavy price for any use of weapons of mass destruction — nuclear, chemical, biological.”
Sullivan claimed that officials in the Biden administration discussed the matter with allies and partners and conducted “contingency planning within our own administration.”
“We communicated directly with the Russians and I won’t go into that further here,” he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Yerevan, Armenia. (Shutterstock)
Biden said Thursday the US would “react” if Russia uses chemical weapons. When asked whether Russia’s use of chemical weapons could trigger a military response from the US and NATO allies, Biden claimed there would be some kind of response.
US RESPONSE TO RUSSIAN CHEMICAL WEAPONS WOULD BE ‘IN TANGIBLE’: BIDEN
“You’re asking if NATO would cross — we would make that decision at that point,” Biden said.
This week, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to say that Russia would not use nuclear weapons if it believed Russia’s “existence” was threatened. Peskov said the terms were compatible with Russia’s national security concept.
“If our country’s existence is threatened, it can be used according to this concept,” Peskov replied when asked whether Russia’s use of nuclear weapons could be completely ruled out, according to the Russian government. controlled news site TASS.
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Last week, Sullivan spoke to Russian Security Council Secretary General Nikolay Patrushev and urged Russia to “stop the attacks” on Ukrainian cities and towns, while warning of “consequences” should Russia decide to use chemical or biological weapons deploy Ukraine.
Sullivan’s warning about Russia’s possible use of chemical weapons comes after the White House said Russia could use “chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine” or conduct a “false flag operation” with them after the Kremlin accused the US biological weapons to be involved weapons research in Ukrainian laboratories.