NATO will enhance its preparedness to defend against “chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats” amid concerns about Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The development, which the alliance announced on Thursday, occurred the same day NATO leaders met in Brussels regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Officials fear that with the Russians‘ invasion not going according to plan, they could resort to using such weapons.
“We are ready to impose costs on those who harm us in cyberspace, and are increasing information exchange and situational awareness, enhancing civil preparedness, and strengthening our ability to respond to disinformation,” the leaders said in a statement. “We will also enhance our preparedness and readiness for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.”
UKRAINIAN AMBASSADOR TO US ACCUSES RUSSIA OF ‘GENOCIDE’ DURING INVASION
The Russian government has accused the United States, NATO allies, and Ukraine of preparing to use biological weapons against Russian forces, an allegation that the U.S. and NATO say is an indication of what Russia could do next, as Russia has a pattern of falsely accusing adversaries of bad actions that they plan on committing in the future.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters after the meeting of heads of state and government, “Our top military commander, General Walters, has activated NATO’s chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense elements, and allies are deploying additional chemical and biological and nuclear defenses to reinforce our existing and new backing groups.”
“We’ve seen before that this way of accusing others is actually a way to try to create a pretext to do the same themselves,” he explained.
A day earlier, Stoltenberg told reporters that he expects the allies will agree to deploy four new NATO battle groups to Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia. It would bring their total number of battlegrounds along their eastern flank to eight from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea.
President Joe Biden, who called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” last week, warned on Wednesday before leaving for Europe that the possibility of Russian forces using biological or chemical weapons is “a real threat.”
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“Now, he’s talking about new false flags he’s setting up, including asserting that we in America have biological as well as chemical weapons in Europe —simply not true,” Biden explained days earlier. “They are also suggesting that Ukraine has biological and chemical weapons in Ukraine. That’s a clear sign he’s considering using both of those.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday declared that the U.S. had seen evidence to support the claim that Russian forces have committed war crimes during their monthlong siege in Ukraine.
