The United States is working with NATO allies to prepare for the possibility of Russia using biological, chemical or nuclear weapons as part of its invasion of Ukraine, a senior Biden administration official said Thursday.
The official who briefed reporters when President Joe Biden met with NATO allies in Brussels said the effort included refining preparedness and deterrence postures.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Wednesday that the US had seen nothing to force it to change its nuclear stance.
Biden said in the White House on Wednesday that there is “a real threat” from Russia’s use of chemical weapons.
The world’s leading industrialized nations plan to warn President Vladimir Putin against using chemical or nuclear weapons in Ukraine as Russia’s invasion stalled a month after the conflict.
G7 leaders also plan to say they will continue to impose “serious consequences” on Russia, fully implementing the sanctions the countries have already imposed and standing ready to apply additional measures.
“We entrust ministers with a focused initiative to oversee full implementation of sanctions and coordinate responses related to evasive measures, including in relation to Central Bank of Russia gold transactions,” read a draft joint statement that Bloomberg told the state and government leaders are planning to issue on Thursday.
Biden is in Brussels for a trio of summits with NATO, the G7 and the European Union as world leaders show their unity to counter Russia’s invasion and seek to find measures to deal with the economic fallout .
Russia has suffered penalties in the first weeks of the conflict, with NATO estimates of at least 7,000 soldiers killed and the actual death toll could be as high as 15,000. Britain’s Defense Ministry said on Thursday Russia is likely to try to mobilize its reservists and conscripts, as well as private military contractors and foreign mercenaries.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has shown unexpected unity and strength over the past month, despite heavy attacks on civilian targets and millions of people fleeing their homes. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian soldiers killed more Ukrainian civilians than soldiers. Images of Moscow’s siege of cities like Mariupol have only spurred Ukrainians to organize protests against Russian troops.
“We still have a very difficult time ahead of us,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in a Facebook post marking the first month of the war. “The Russian war machine will not stop until it is drowned in the blood of its own soldiers. Russian society is already experiencing some of the consequences, but is intimidated and passive.”
Ukraine will keep fighting as it “will not allow anyone to take our state away,” he added. “The state with which generations of Ukrainians dreamed, fought and died.”
Despite heavy losses, Putin has shown no sign of a course correction, even as the wave of economic sanctions imposed by the US, EU and UK is taking an everincreasing toll. There is growing evidence of product shortages in Russia as consumers begin to feel the impact of widespread sanctions.
US warnings of chemical and nuclear incidents indicate growing concern that Putin will strike and his army will suffer heavy casualties.
But Sullivan hinted Wednesday that the United States has no details on whether Putin’s schedule has changed.
“We haven’t seen anything that would have caused us to adjust our stance, our nuclear stance, but of course it’s something we need to continue to consult closely with allies and partners and communicate directly with, and the Russians are moving forward,” Sullivan said …