White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan warned on Sunday that Russia would pay a “severe price” if it launched a chemical weapon attack on Ukraine, and added that Moscow’s “escalating level of rhetoric” is an “indicator” Russians are preparing to use chemical weapons and “pin the blame” elsewhere.
“We can't predict a time or place. All we can say is that there is an escalating level of rhetoric on the Russian side trying to accuse the Ukrainians and the US of potentially using chemical or biological weapons…That's an indicator that in fact, the Russians are getting ready to do it and try and pin the blame elsewhere, and nobody should fall for that,” Sullivan said in an interview with CNN’s “Face the Nation”.
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“And as the [US] president said on Friday, if in fact the Russians do use chemical weapons in Ukraine, they will pay a severe price,” Sullivan added.
“The use of weapons of mass destruction would be a- a shocking additional line that Putin is crossing in terms of his assault on international law and international norms. His assault on the human rights and human dignity of the people of Ukraine.”
Russia has recently been accusing the US of operating biowarfare labs in Ukraine. Washington denied the claims and said that Moscow is likely laying the groundwork to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine.
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