Putin plans to use chemical and biological weapons, says Biden

His back is against the wall, Biden said of Russian President Vladimir Putin, noting that Moscow recently accused the United States of holding chemical and biological weapons in Europe. That's simply not true. I guarantee you that, he insisted at a meeting with U.S. business leaders in Washington. They (the Russians) also assure that Ukraine has chemical and biological weapons in Ukraine. This is a clear sign that he (Vladimir Putin) plans to use these two types of weapons, he continued. The U.S. president is repeating a warning issued earlier this month after Russian officials accused Ukraine of seeking to hide an alleged chemical weapons program supported by Washington. Now that Russia has issued its false accusations and China appears to be embracing this propaganda, we must monitor any possible Russian use of chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki warned on Twitter.

  

Joe Biden repeated on Monday that the use of such weapons would expose Moscow to severe retaliation from Western powers, without specifying their nature. Vladimir Putin knows that there will be severe consequences because of the united front of NATO, he warned, without further precision. Biden also assured that he had warned his Russian counterpart of a strong U.S. response in the event of cyberattacks against U.S. critical infrastructure. We had a long conversation about the consequences if he engaged in cyber attacks, said the U.S. president in reference to a summit with his Russian counterpart last year in Geneva.