Biden Threatens Putin with ‘Severe Price’ if He Uses Chemical Weapons
Biden warns Russia of consequences in White House speech
© press
Joe Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin he would pay if he chooses to use chemical weapons in the ongoing war in Ukraine.
“Russia would pay a severe price if they used chemical weapons,” he told reporters at the White House after a speech Friday.
Biden failed to elaborate on his answer further, telling reporters he would not speak in detail about U.S. intelligence warning that Putin would possibly use chemical weapons to trigger a “false-flag” attack in Ukraine.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki wrote on social media Wednesday;
“[W]e should all be on the lookout for Russia to possibly use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, or to create a false flag operation using them," Biden said.
© press
The Biden administration has been reluctant to say if the use of chemical weapons would be a “red line” requiring NATO military action.
Biden said he does not want the United States fighting Russia in Ukraine, warning of the potential of another world war.
“Direct confrontation between NATO and Russia is World War III, something we must strive to prevent,” he said.
But Biden spoke aggressively against Putin, reminding him repeatedly that he “failed” by invading Ukraine.
“He hoped to dominate Ukraine without a fight. He failed. He hoped to fracture European resolve. He failed,” he said.
© press
“He hoped to weaken the transatlantic alliance. He failed," he said.
"He hoped to split apart American democracies in terms of our positions. He failed.”
Biden’s remarks come after reports that a plurality of likely voters says that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if Donald Trump was still president, according to a recent Rasmussen Reports survey.
As Neon Nettle reported:
According to the survey, 57 percent believe Joe Biden “could have done more to prevent the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”
Meanwhile, 63 percent of Democrats believe Biden “did everything possible to prevent that.”
But 80 percent of Republicans and 67 percent of independents disagree.
46 percent of voters said they tend to trust Republicans to handle issues related to the country’s national security, while one-third said the same for Democrats:
By a 13-point margin, voters trust Republicans (46%) more than Democrats (33%) to handle issues related to U.S. national security. Another 19% don’t trust either party. Unsurprisingly, most Republicans (82%) trust the GOP more, and most Democratic voters (72%) trust Democrats more with national security. Among unaffiliated voters, 45% trust Republicans more on national security issues, compared to just 17% for Democrats. Thirty-five percent (35%) of unaffiliated voters don’t trust either party on national security.
