The United States and NATO have made it clear that they are not interested in sending troops to Ukraine. But if Russian President Vladimir Putin used a weapon of mass destruction, it could lead the alliance to a war in which it was desperate to avoid immediate involvement. President Joe Biden has repeatedly said that US forces would stay out of Ukraine, warning at one point that a direct confrontation would be “World War III.” Similarly, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg emphasized that the alliance did not want to send troops. But the war is not going well for Russia. There are growing concerns that Putin will use a chemical or nuclear weapon in Ukraine to try to break the bloody deadlock in which his forces find themselves. And that could force NATO to join. “Putin … shows no signs of retreating. The Ukrainians are retaliating with courage and determination, and as long as the war continues, the use of nuclear weapons will be a real possibility,” wrote Scott D. Sagan, a political scientist at Stanford University. in a recent article on Foreign Affairs. Former US ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder told Insider that the US and NATO “should help the Ukrainians and defeat the Russians” in such a scenario. “We can not remain indifferent as Russia decides that it is going to use chemical warfare … or nuclear weapons and say, ‘This is not our job,’” he added. Biden warned on Thursday that the United States and NATO would “respond” if Putin used chemical weapons in Ukraine. “The nature of the response will depend on the nature of the use,” he added. And Stoltenberg warned on Wednesday: “Any use of chemical weapons would fundamentally change the nature of the conflict.” Russia has faced deadly sanctions as a result of the war and has become economically and politically isolated. NATO estimates that the Russian military has already seen up to 40,000 casualties on the battlefield in just one month of war. Putin could feel pressured to do something drastic – including the use of weapons of mass destruction – if he believes it will help Russia gain leverage. Since the start of the war, Putin has made nuclear threats. The Russian leader has ordered his country’s nuclear deterrents to be on high alert. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov also refused to rule out the use of nuclear weapons in a recent interview with CNN. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in mid-March that nuclear war was “returning to the realm of possibility” because of Putin’s actions.

“Of course we must use violence”

                          Russian President Vladimir Putin convenes a meeting of the Security Council of Russia in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on February 21, 2022. Kremlin Press Office / Brochure / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

With Russia embroiled in what Stoltenberg called a “nuclear crackdown,” lawmakers in Congress are increasingly debating how the United States should react if it uses nuclear or chemical weapons. The United States has repeatedly warned Russia that it will defend every inch of NATO territory, signaling to Moscow that any attack on an allied country would lead to a military response. Along these lines, some members of Congress have suggested that if Russia uses nuclear weapons in Ukraine (which is not a NATO member) and the radiation from the attack shifts beyond the borders to a NATO country such as Poland , should be considered an attack. to the alliance and trigger a military response. NATO operates on the principle of collective defense, considering the attack on one as an attack on all, which is enshrined in Article 5 of its founding treaty. “If a nuclear device is fired and the radiation goes to a [neighboring] “This could very well be seen as an attack on NATO,” Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters earlier this week, according to Military.com. Reed added that this could also be true of “some chemical, biological attacks”. Similarly, GOP Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told NBC News that Russia could use nuclear or chemical weapons to force NATO members to invoke Article 5 and lead the alliance to retaliation. “As you fire a nuclear weapon inside Ukraine, depending on what it is, they fire, even in a demonstration, that will spread radioactive material that could cross the border,” Rubio said, adding: “If radioactive material goes over From the Polish border, would claim to have been attacked. “ But Daalder said invoking Article 5 was not necessary for the use of force by the alliance, citing NATO intervention in Libya in 2011 as an example. NATO does not have to wait for a chemical or radioactive cloud to pass through Poland or another member state to respond, he said, simply needs consensus among allies – not objections – to the use of force. “You do not need Article 5 to use force,” Dalder told Insider, adding that if Russia uses a weapon of mass destruction, “of course we must use force.”