The White House has set up a team of experts to plan how the United States might react if Russia uses weapons of mass destruction – chemical, biological or nuclear – to invade Ukraine, senior government officials said today.
Russia has repeatedly raised the prospect of using nuclear weapons as it struggles to counter the resistance of Ukrainian forces during the war that began a month ago, which the Russian government calls a “special operation.” This week, the Kremlin said such weapons would be used only in the event of an “existential threat.”
U.S. officials have warned that Russia’s allegations that Ukraine may use chemical weapons are false, and that there are indications that Moscow may resort to their use.
President Joe Biden said today that if Russia used chemical weapons in its invasion of Ukraine, the United States would respond. “We would respond, we would respond if he uses them. The nature of the response will depend on the nature of the use,” Biden told a news conference in Brussels.
According to Reuters, the White House National Security Council sent an internal memo to the services on February 28 to form a strategy group to consider the major geopolitical changes that occur as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, officials said. A second team, known internally as the “Tiger Team”, is looking at what the next three months will look like.
The strategy team is working “to monitor and mitigate risks, while considering how to promote and defend US interests,” a U.S. official said.
The teams are making contingency plans for various scenarios, including the possible use of chemical or biological weapons by Russia; targeting US security convoys; disruptions to global food supply chains; continuing response to the growing refugee crisis, the official said.
The teams are also considering the use of nuclear weapons by Russia, the official said.
The official did not speculate on how the United States might react if Russia used weapons of mass destruction, but made it clear that there would be a response.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told CNN it was up to the United States to consider the possibility. “We have not seen any indication that the Russians are willing to use weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine. If that happened, there would be a significant response,” said Kirby, “from both the United States and the international community.”
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in Brussels today that there were concerns that Russia might try to create a pretext for its own actions by accusing Ukraine and its allies of using chemical weapons. Echoing US officials, he said the allegations were a pretext for Russia to do the same.
Source: Capital
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