Ukraine war
Russia claims there are chemical weapons laboratories in Ukraine – as the US counters the misinformation
Jennifer Psaki, spokeswoman for US President Joe Biden, defends herself on Twitter against allegations of chemical weapons from Russia
© Nicholas Kamm / AFP
Russia claims there is a network of bio-laboratories in Ukraine on behalf of the US government. The answers clearly – and provides an explanation for the Russian misinformation at the same time.
The US government has warned of a possible Russian use of chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine. The background to this warning is a claim by the Russians themselves, such as Jen Psaki, spokeswoman for US President Joe Biden, outlined on Twitter.
In mid-February, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told the UN Security Council that Moscow would first create a “pretext for an attack” — an act of violence for which Ukraine was held responsible. Indeed, on February 23, Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine asked the Kremlin for military aid. Blinken wasn’t quite right in his prediction, but the game set up between President Vladimir Putin and the separatists in Donetsk and Lugansk was revealed nonetheless.
US counters allegations of chemical weapons from Russia
Psaki is now certain that by spreading misinformation, Moscow wants to pave the way for further escalating the unjustified war of aggression in Ukraine. Russia follows a clear pattern of behavior – either to use weapons of mass destruction itself, or to fake an attack by the Ukrainians in order to construct a justification for continuing the war, writes Psaki on Twitter.
Psaki’s statement came after allegations by Russia that Ukraine is developing nuclear or biological weapons. Only on Monday did the Russian Ministry of Defense claim that there was a network of biological laboratories in Ukraine working on behalf of the US Department of Defense. However, international fact-checkers have long since invalidated this claim.
“False pretexts” for war in Ukraine
Accordingly, Psaki responds to this accusation from Russia: “It’s absurd. It’s the kind of disinformation operations that we’ve seen repeatedly and exposed by the Russians in recent years in Ukraine and other countries, and an example of the Kind of false pretense that we warned the Russians about.” The United States is fully compliant with its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological Weapons Convention and is not developing or possessing such weapons anywhere, Psaki said. “Russia has a long and well-documented history of using chemical weapons, including the attempted assassination and poisoning of Putin’s political opponents such as Alexey Navalny,” she writes.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Wednesday that the “Russian misinformation is complete nonsense.” The US did not operate any biological or chemical weapons laboratories in Ukraine and fully respected international chemical and biological weapons treaties.
“Repeated use of chemical weapons”
Psaki said Moscow also supports Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, whose regime has “repeatedly used chemical weapons.” There is a method for Russia to accuse the West of violations that the country is committing itself. China appears to be continuing to spread Russian propaganda, Psaki wrote.
The United Nations had previously stated that it had no knowledge of weapons of mass destruction allegedly produced in Ukraine. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in New York that the World Health Organization was “not aware of any activities by the Ukrainian government that conflict with its international treaty obligations, including chemical or biological weapons.” In 2018, Russia accused the United States of secret biological experiments in a laboratory in Georgia.
Swell:Jen Psaki on Twitter, US Department of State statement.