Britain issues warning to Russia over use of chemical weapons in Ukraine

A view shows the damaged regional administration building in Kharkiv
REUTERS

Britain warned Vladimir Putin on Thursday that he would risk an “international response” if he uses chemical weapons in Ukraine.

Armed forces minister James Heappey stressed that the Russian president now knew, after the US declassified intelligence, that the West was aware that he may be planning deploying such appalling weapons.

Asked where the West’s red lines were, Mr Heappey told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I don’t think it’s helpful to get into any firm commitment right now about where that red line sits.

“But President Putin needs to be very clear that when other countries have used chemical weapons it has caused an international response.

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“The US are right to declassify the intelligence so that Putin knows that we know that he has got this under consideration. He should reflect very urgently on what has happened to other countries where they have used this.”

The White House warned on Wednesday that Russia might seek to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, as it rejected Russian claims of illegal chemical weapons development in the country it has invaded.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s latest claim, which appeared to have little if no evidence to support it, was that Ukraine is running chemical and biological weapons labs with US support.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki called the allegation “preposterous” and said it could be part of an attempt by Russia to lay the groundwork for its own use of such weapons of mass destruction against Ukraine.

“This is all an obvious ploy by Russia to try to justify its further premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack on Ukraine,” she tweeted.

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“Now that Russia has made these false claims, and China has seemingly endorsed this propaganda, we should all be on the lookout for Russia to possibly use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, or to create a false flag operation using them.”

Mr Putin may be preparing the ground for possibly using non-conventional weapons such as chemical devices in his invasion of Ukraine, a western official said on Wednesday.

The source said it was now a serious concern that the Russian president may resort to such appalling weapons given the failures so far of his military campaign in Ukraine.

The worries are based on the fact that chemical weapons were used by the Assad regime, backed by Russia, during the Syrian civil war, some possible “false flag” operations to justify use of these devices and other factors.

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