US President Joe Biden said on Thursday that NATO would respond if Russia used chemical weapons in Ukraine and had previously warned that Moscow would “pay a heavy price” if it did.
The use of such weapons against the Ukrainian people would mean a dramatic escalation of the Russian invasion and would probably require heavy retaliation from the West.
But concerns are growing that Russia may be planning to take the step, as the Kremlin has planted the unfounded idea that Ukraine and the United States may use these weapons. “It’s a sign that they can prepare to do it themselves and then try to put the blame on someone else,” US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said earlier this month.
Why would their use be so important? Chemical weapons contain toxic substances designed to cause death or damage to their targets. They can spread dangerous chemicals, such as choking, blisters and nerve agents, which can attack the body and cause death on a huge scale, indiscriminately and over a wide area, if grown inside a bomb or artillery shell.
Their use is prohibited by international law. Russia has signed the terms and claims it has no chemical weapons, but the country has already been linked to the use of nerve agents against critics in recent years. These cases include the poisonings of Alexander Litvinenko, Sergei Skripal and Alexey Navalny. A painful story: The widespread horror of the use of chemical agents during World War I resulted in the Geneva Protocol, signed in 1925, which prohibited chemical weapons attacks.
However, 25 countries worked to develop chemical weapons during the Cold War, according to the United Nations Office on Disarmament Affairs. Long-term negotiations eventually led to the adoption of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 1992, requiring states to destroy their stockpiles and ban the development, production or use of chemical weapons. There have, however, been limited cases in which they have been used in battle – and these cases have led to political repercussions around the world. Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein used a variety of chemical weapons against Iran during the 1980s, and their use in Syria over the past decade has risked US intervention in the country’s civil war. The attacks in Ghouta in 2013 and Khan Sheikhoun in 2017 both involved the alleged use of sarin gas, a nerve agent banned under the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention. In 2013, the use of natural gas, reported by United Nations researchers, crossed one of the red lines of then-President Barack Obama, but no military action was taken. Instead, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) went to Syria to monitor the destruction of the country’s chemical weapons program. Warnings to Russia: While Biden’s statement may evoke memories of Obama’s “red line” warning in 2013, the current US president has a united NATO on his side.
On Thursday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance would strengthen its chemical, biological and nuclear defense systems amid fears of Russian intentions. In a joint statement Thursday, G7 leaders warned Russia against using chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. “Any Russian use of chemical or biological weapons would be a violation of all rules, all agreements and all existing conventions,” added German Chancellor Olaf Solz. “We can only say: Do not do it!”