By Aaron Miller–
Joe Biden said the U.S would respond if Putin were to use chemical weapons in its fight against Ukraine.
‘We would respond if he uses it,’ Biden said. ‘The nature of the response would depend on the nature of the use.’ ‘It would trigger response in kind.’
‘Whether or not – you’re asking whether NATO would cross? We’d make that decision at the time,’ he continued.
Putin was banking on NATO being split. It was clear to me he didn’t think we could sustain this cohesion.
Putin is getting exactly the opposite of what he intended to have as a consequence of going into Ukraine.
The US Air Force has sent it’s ‘Doomsday’ plane to Europe as part of a fleet of jets to support President Joe Biden’s four-day mission to bolster unity against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The E4-B Nightwatch is designed to be a command and control centre in the event of nuclear war.
The US keeps at least one of the fleet of four on permanent standby for immediate launch in the event of a nuclear conflict.
aking in the aftermath of emergency Nato and G7 summits in Brussels, the US president said that any retaliation would be proportional, though he would not confirm that he would insist on military action.
“We would respond,” Biden said, in response to a question about what Nato would do. “We would respond if he uses it. The nature of the response would depend on the nature of the use.”
Biden also said he would give his full support to see Russia thrown out of the G20 club of leading economic nations, although Biden complained that wasn’t immediately possible because “Indonesia and others do not agree”.
Biden and other western leaders have become fearful that a struggling Russia may try to end Ukraine’s stubborn resistance in the war that has already lasted a month and claimed thousands of lives, with a chemical – or biological or nuclear – attack. The potential for such attack has become one of the worrying and unpredictable aspects of the war in Ukraine, as it becomes tougher for the Russians with each passing day.
Special Tiger Team
The White House had set up a special “Tiger Team” to work out how the US would respond if such an attack should take place. But on Thursday, Biden also said: “It would trigger a response in kind” – meaning it would reflect what had taken place.
Speaking a few minutes before Biden, UK prime minister Boris Johnson warned of disastrous consequences for Russia should Putin use chemical weapons in Ukraine.
“You have to have a bit of ambiguity about your response, but I think it would be catastrophic for him if he were to do that – and I think that he understands that,” Johnson told a press conference.
All 30 Nato leaders warned Russia against using chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, arguing in a final summit statement that any such use “would be unacceptable and result in severe consequences”. However, again they did not spell out what the response would be.
However, barely 24 hours had passed when Russian’s spokesperson warned the Nato Alliance to calculate the possible outcomes of its action when dealing with a nuclear power.
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (l), US President Joe Biden (C), German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (R) pose during the G7 summit in Brussels on March 24, 2022. The economic powers are coordinating sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
The war between Russia and Ukraine remains on thin ice, with the world really walking on slippery eggs.