Joe Biden warned that Putin is considering using chemical and biological weapons in Ukraine

US President Joe Biden said Monday that it is “clear” that Russia is considering the use of chemical and biological weapons in Ukraine and warned of a “severe” response from the West if it chooses to do so.

“His back is against the wall,” Biden said of Russian President Vladimir Putin, recalling that Russia recently accused the United States of stockpiling chemical and biological weapons in Europe. “It's just not true, I guarantee it,” he assured American business leaders in Washington.

“They are also suggesting that Ukraine has chemical and biological weapons. That is a clear sign that he (Putin) is considering using both types (of weapons),” he stressed.

His warning echoes statements released by his administration earlier this month and other nations in the West, after Russian officials accused Ukraine of intending to hide an alleged U.S.-backed chemical weapons program. “Now that Russia has made these false claims (...) we should all look carefully at the possibility of Russia using chemical and biological weapons in Ukraine, or creating false flag operations using them,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki warned on Twitter.

On Monday, Biden also reiterated that such an action would unleash a “harsh” but hitherto indefinite response from Western allies. According to him, Putin “knows that there will be severe consequences for the NATO united front,” he said, without specifying what actions the alliance would take.

Biden also told companies to watch out for Russia's cyberattacks. “It's part of the Russian operations manual,” he said in a statement.

The United States and its allies have previously accused Russia of spreading an unproven claim that Ukraine had a biological weapons program as a possible preamble to the use of such weapons, but Biden's statements on Monday were among the strongest on the subject.

Russia claims that it does not attack civilians, although the devastation caused in Ukrainian cities such as Mariupol and Kharkiv is reminiscent of previous Russian assaults on cities in Chechnya and Syria.

Putin calls the war, which is the biggest attack on a European state since World War II, as a “special military operation” to disarm Ukraine and protect it from the “Nazis.” The West calls it a false pretext for a war of unprovoked aggression.

Russian troops have failed to capture any major Ukrainian cities after four weeks of invasion, and are increasingly resorting to massive destruction of residential areas with air strikes, long-range missiles and artillery.

The port of Mariupol, in the south of the country, has become one of the hotbeds of the Russian assault and is practically in ruins with dead bodies in the streets, but on Monday it was also reported that attacks on the second city, Kharkiv, had intensified.

Russian forces are expected to continue to attack critical infrastructure with “high-precision weapons and indiscriminate ammunition,” the Ukrainian armed forces said in a statement.

DIPLOMATIC PRESSURE

Biden plans to travel to Europe this week to meet with the leaders of the allied countries to discuss the tightening of sanctions against Russia, in addition to the unprecedented economic sanctions already announced. Before the trip, Biden discussed Russia's “brutal” tactics in a call with European leaders on Monday, the White House said.

Russia's siege and bombing of Mariupol, which European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called a “massive war crime”, is increasing pressure for action.

However, EU foreign ministers did not agree on Monday on the desirability of including energy in sanctions, and Germany said the bloc was too dependent on Russian oil to impose an embargo.

Biden criticized India for being “a little hesitant” when it came to taking action against Russia, its largest supplier of military equipment, but praised the other members of the Quad group, Australia and Japan. India has called for an end to violence in Ukraine, but has abstained from voting against Russia, its former Cold War ally.

China, which has also refused to condemn Russia's assault, and its ally, Pakistan, were concerned about the “indirect effects of unilateral sanctions” imposed on Russia, as stated by the Chinese Foreign Ministry following a meeting of the foreign ministers of both countries.

They called for a ceasefire and a diplomatic resolution of the crisis.

(With information from AFP and Reuters)

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