US says Russia lying about chemical plot to set up attack
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield accused Russia calling Friday's U.N. Security Council hearing to spread lies and disinformation about Ukraine and chemical weapons.
Greenfield told the international body that the U.S. believes Russia could use chemical or biological agents for assassinations as part of a false flag incident or to support tactical military operations.
"And we are deeply concerned that Russia's calling for this meeting is a potential false flag effort in action - exactly the kind we have been warning about, including from Secretary Blinken here in the security council last month," she said.
The U.S. has "serious concerns" that Russia may be planning to use chemical or biological agents against the Ukrainian people.
According to Greenfield, Russia has a "track record of falsely accusing other countries of the very violations that Russia itself is perpetrating."
She added that the U.N. security council meeting revealed Russia's objectives to the world, and "exposed Russia's lies," which she called "a malicious effort to cover for the atrocities being committed by Russia as part of their illegal and unprovoked attack on Ukraine."
Greenfield also backed previous statements by U.S.officials warning of Russia's potential use of biological weapons in Ukraine and said, "the intent behind these lies seems clear, and it is deeply troubling."
The ambassador excoriated the pretext for the security council hearing and added, "Russia is attempting to use the Security Council to legitimize disinformation and deceive people to justify President Putin's war of choice against the Ukrainian people."
The former assistant secretary of State for African Affairs said that China has also been spreading disinformation in support of Russia's "outrageous claims."
She added that the U.N. is not aware of any biological or chemical weapons programs in Ukraine.
"Ukraine does not have a biological weapons program. There are no Ukrainian biological weapons laboratories supported by the United States - not near Russia's border or anywhere," she said.
Her remarks came shortly after the Russian permanent representative to the U.N., Vasily Nebenzya, alleged that there was a biological weapons plot by Ukraine and the U.S to use migratory birds and bats to spread pathogens, The Guardian reported.
Multiple administration officials on Wednesday pushed back against Russian allegations that the United States was developing bioweapons in Ukraine as "false" and "laughable."
President Biden on Friday warned that Russia would pay a severe price if it launched a chemical weapons attack during its invasion of Ukraine.
"I'm not going to speak about the intelligence ... but Russia would pay a severe price if they use chemical weapons," Biden said.
