US 'concerned' Russia may use chemical weapons in Ukraine

The United States says it is "concerned" that Russians "may use chemical weapons in Ukraine," ratcheting up its propaganda offensive against Moscow over the Ukraine crisis.

In an interview on Sunday, US ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield vowed an aggressive response if Russia's military uses chemical weapons in Ukraine, days after Moscow revealed that the Pentagon financed a biological weapons research program in the former Soviet republic.

“We are concerned that they may use chemical weapons in Ukraine. We've been clear if they escalate to this level, we will respond aggressively to what they're doing,” Thomas-Greenfield told host Jake Tapper on CNN's "State of the Union".

“Jake, as you know, that Russian came into the Security Council on Friday with the spurious accusations that the U.S. was supporting Ukraine's chemical weapons programs,” Thomas-Greenfield added.  “And I'm not going to give that any more amplification here. What we see happening is, again, this is a false flag effort by the Russians.”

“You've seen the consequences so far of our actions against Russia and against [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and they are feeling those consequences and they will feel more if they take this unfortunate….decision to use chemical weapons,” Thomas-Greenfield stated.

Analyst: US chemical weapons claim is a distraction from revelation of US bio-weapons in Ukraine

The White House’s warning of the potential for Russia to use chemical weapons in Ukraine “has to be viewed as a warning that the US plans to use chemical weapons in Ukraine, and to then try to blame it on Russia."

She accused Russian forces of using chemical weapons in Syria and against their own people.

Her comments came after Moscow earlier this month revealed the US housing biological weapons in Ukrainian territory.

The Russian permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, told the Security Council meeting last week that the Ukrainian government had allowed its own people to be used as guinea pigs for biological weapons research.

Nebenzya said the labs had studied how to spread viruses using birds and bats, citing as evidence that a growing number of disease outbreaks have been reported in Ukraine in recent years.

The Russian envoy warned the European countries of the danger posed by Ukraine’s research into biological weapons.

Cheney: Use of chemical weapons should be considered 'red line'

Meanwhile, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) on Sunday said that the use of chemical weapons by Russia in Ukraine should be considered a "red line" by the US and NATO.

The Wyoming Republican said that "we, in the West, the United States and NATO, need to stop telling the Russians what we won't do."

"We need to be very clear that we are considering all options and the use of chemical weapons is certainly something that would alter our calculation," she said.

"And they need to understand that if the brutality here increases, the United States will contemplate and consider every possible range of actions along with our NATO allies," she added.

She said that Russia should know that "we will contemplate changing the calculation in terms of humanitarian challenges and the humanitarian devastation the Ukrainian people are facing."

US President Joe Biden has warned that Russia would pay a severe price if it launched a chemical weapons attack during its ongoing military action in Ukraine.

“I'm not going to speak about the intelligence … but Russia would pay a severe price if they use chemical weapons," Biden said.

Stunning US admission

The United States earlier this month made a stunning admission, saying that Ukraine hosts US-funded “biological research facilities."

US Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland expressed concern during a Senate hearing on Ukraine after Russia published documents showing that Kiev was ordered to urgently eliminate traces of what was deemed as a biological weapons program, financed by the Pentagon.

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Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry said it had found evidence of US-funded biolabs in Ukraine.

The ministry said it had been closely monitoring the bioweapons programs that were developed by the Pentagon in post-Soviet countries, adding that according to new findings, a “network” of more than 30 biological laboratories was formed in Ukraine in particular.

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