The U.S. has stated in the past that Russia would face stiff repercussions if it use chemical weapons.
The United States accused Russia on May 2 of using chemical weapons in its war against Ukraine. The State Department claimed that Russia is using a choking agent called chloropicrin during its current offensive. According to the U.S., Russia has been deploying such chemical weapons as a “method of warfare”, and that such use goes against the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), to which Russia is a signatory.
Chloropicrin is an oily substance that irritates the lungs, eyes, and skin. It causes nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Chloropicrin was used commonly used in WWI. The U.S. says that Russia has frequently used tear gas as well to get Ukrainian soldiers to leave trenches.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has stated that Russia has not used chemical weapons and that Russia stands by its signing of the CWC.
While Ukraine has often accused Russia of using chemical weapons, especially since the escalation of the war in February 2022, the U.S. comments on it relatively infrequently. In March 2022, President Biden responded to claims that Russia was using chemical weapons by stating that Russian president Putin would pay a “severe price” for authorizing such use.
Using the use of chemical weapons
The U.S. is certainly not going to give Ukraine chemical weapons as a response to Russia’s use. Conventional military hardware is already beginning to flow into Ukraine again from the U.S. now that the new aid bill has become law.
The most likely responses will come in the form of even tighter sanctions against Russia. Further sanctions or freezing of accounts on the part of President Putin is possible as well. Using either the profits from such funds or those funds themselves to pay for the aid going to Ukraine is of great interest on the part of lawmakers but is meeting resistance from some quarters.
The use of frozen Russian funds and assets to pay for supporting Ukraine is also more popular in the U.S. than in Europe. The issue of using chemical weapons as a method of warfare is likely to be used to convince reluctant allies to reconsider their position.
