Russia may use chemical weapons following Ukraine invasion: NATO chief

Jens Stoltenberg, the chief of NATO, warned that Russia may use chemical weapons in its invasion of Ukraine, according to media reports from Germany. The alliance’s top diplomat also added that such an act would be a war crime.

“It is possible that Russia itself could plan chemical weapons operations under this fabrication of lies. That would be a war crime”, the NATO Secretary General told German newspaper Welt am Sonntag. He also added that the world needs to be more vigilant, in case the claims of chemical weapons turn out to be true.

Also Read: NATO’s responsibility to curb Russian attack on Ukraine: Alliance chief

The United States accused Russia of using a United Nations Security Council meeting earlier this week for “lying and spreading disinformation” as part of a potential false-flag operation by Moscow for the use of chemical or biological agents in Ukraine.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the American ambassador present at the UN meeting, said that this was a scenario earlier predicted by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Also Read: Russia-Ukraine crisis: NATO to begin training of troops in Norway

He said Russian President Vladimir Putin would “fabricate allegations about chemical or biological weapons to justify its own violent attacks against the Ukrainian people”, according to reports from Associated Press. Stoltenberg, while speaking to German newspaper Welt am Sonntag called the Russian claims “absurd.”

Russia had requested the meeting to address its allegations of U.S. “biological activities” in Ukraine — a charge made without any evidence and denied by both Washington and Kyiv.

Also Read: Russian invasion: What’s the EU doing to help Ukraine refugees?

Vassily Nebenzia, the Russian diplomat to United Nations, said that Kremlin had documented evidence that at least 30 biological labs in Ukraine are carrying out “very dangerous biological experiments” involving pathogens.

The Russian ambassador further alleged that the Defense Threat Reduction Agency of the United States is assisting Kyiv through funding and supervision.