US: ‘No intention’ of
using chemical weapons,
even if Russia uses them

WASHINGTON DC (Agencies): The United States has “no intention” of using chemical weapons under any circumstance even if Russia uses such weapons in Ukraine, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says.
“There will be a severe price if Russia uses chemical weapons. And I won’t go beyond that other than to say the United States has no intention of using chemical weapons, period, under any circumstance,” he tells reporters on board Air Force One.
Sullivan says there was now a “convergence” between Western leaders on what measures to take in case Russia uses chemical weapons and added that the White House had set up a working group on the issue.
“We have made considerable efforts to put ourselves in a position to respond effectively,” he said, shortly before a plane carrying US President Joe Biden landed in Poland — around 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the border with Ukraine.
When asked if he could say something new about plans to supply Ukraine with air defense systems, among which the S-300 was previously mentioned. “Only that the United States is actively working with allies in Europe and partners elsewhere to provide Ukrainians with sophisticated air defense capabilities. I won’t talk about specific countries or specific systems. This work is ongoing. And, of course, I want to defend the effectiveness of this work to ensure that these systems are delivered to where they need to be,” an adviser to the American leader replied. He spoke to reporters aboard US Chief of Staff Joe Biden’s flight from Belgium to Poland. “We are in talks with the Ukrainians and allies about the coastal defense and anti-ship capabilities that we could provide. There are some operational complexities associated with this. But this is the vector and the area in which we are trying to ensure rapid progress,” Sullivan further stressed.
According to him, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky did not ask the United States for the supply of tanks. “We heard his request about tanks, among other things. The Ukrainians specifically did not address the United States, as I understand it, on the issue of tanks, they turned to some other states. We will continue to consult with them on all these different systems in order to decide what we can provide, what will be effective, what is the cost-benefit ratio of providing any particular system,” the White House spokesman said.
In addition, he confirmed that the situation around Poland’s proposal to transfer to Ukraine the Soviet-made MiG-29 fighters at the disposal of Warsaw did not actually change after Washington, in fact, rejected this initiative. “Today I don’t have any new information on fighter jets for you. From our point of view, nothing has changed fundamentally after you <…> asked this question two days ago. I’ll stop there,” said the assistant to the US President.
Earlier, the Polish Foreign Ministry said that the authorities of the republic are ready to immediately and free of charge send all of their 28 MiG-29 fighters to the Ramstein airbase in Germany and transfer them to the United States. US officials first acknowledged that Warsaw did not agree on this proposal with Washington, and then publicly rejected the idea of the Polish side.