Biden says NATO would ‘respond’ to Russia if Putin uses chemical or biological weapons

• Biden said Russia should be expelled from the G-20 group of economies

• U.S. allies had accomplished all three of his primary goals in Brussels following the NATO meeting

U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday said NATO would respond “in-kind” if Russian President Vladimir Putin uses weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine.

“We will respond if he uses it,” Biden said. “The nature of the response depends on the nature of the use.”

After a marathon of summit meetings with the European Union, G-7 nations, and NATO allies in Brussels, the U.S. president spoke to reporters.

Biden also said Russia should be expelled from the G-20 group of economies. If the other G-20 nations do not support booting out Russia, he would make a case for Ukraine to participate in the meetings.

In the meeting, NATO leaders discussed how the bloc and the EU should set up a system to review any sanctions violations and “where, when and how” Russia could buy banned products.

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The U.S. president said he asked for the NATO meeting to ensure that Russia’s economic sanctions could adequately be enforced throughout 2022.

Biden said that U.S. allies had accomplished all three of his primary goals in Brussels following the NATO meeting.

“First, to support Ukraine with military and humanitarian assistance. Second was to impose the most significant most significant economic sanctions regime ever in order to cripple Putin’s economy and punish him for his actions. Third, was to fortify the eastern flank of our NATO allies who were obviously very, very concerned and somewhat worried what would happen,” said Biden.

Warning against chemical and bioweapons

While speaking to reporters on Wednesday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said using chemical weapons would change the nature of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

“It will be a blatant violation of international law and with far-reaching consequences,” Stoltenberg said, warning that such weapons could impact nearby NATO member countries.

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The NATO alliance will soon provide Ukraine with equipment to protect against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons, said Stoltenberg, to counter Russia, which has a previous history of using chemical weapons, including on the battlefield in Syria, and against Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

Frustrated with his slow progress in Ukraine, Putin has been increasingly signaling the possibility of using chemical or biological weapons to wipe out entire cities and force the country to surrender.

Earlier this week, Biden warned that Putin was falsely accusing the U.S. and Ukraine of using biological or chemical weapons to justify Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

“Russia has a long track record of accusing others of what they are either already doing or about to do, and that is the kind of projection that we’ve seen in the last couple of weeks. And it’s very scary,” Biden earlier said.

Picture Credit: FT