Defense Secretary Austin: ‘Significant Reaction’ if Russia Uses Chemical Weapons in Ukraine

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sai Mo Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that there will be a “significant reaction” if Russia uses chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine.

Partial transcript as follows:

MARGARET BRENNAN: One other option for a weapon of mass destruction that the Biden administration has warned about is a chemical or biological weapon. Vladimir Putin gave this chilling speech earlier this week where he claimed the Pentagon was supporting biological programs at dozens of labs in Ukraine, which the Biden administration has just said that’s completely false information. China has repeated this as a talking point, though. Would using a weapon of mass destruction like this change the US calculus? Is there a level of catastrophe here where the United States could not sit on the sidelines?

AUSTIN: I- I think if a chemical or biological weapon was used, you would see- as- a significant reaction from not only the United States but also the global community. And again, I don’t want to speculate about what exactly would change our calculation. I think- I think, you know, engaging in hypotheticals is probably not helpful here, either. But I think this is- this is a very serious step. And as you heard our president say, we won’t- we won’t take that likely.

MARGARET BRENNAN: And when Vladimir Putin talks about that, you think it becomes more likely?

SEC. AUSTIN: I think what- what we’ve seen from the Russians in the past is they’re raising issues and creating a pretext so that if they did something in the battle space, they could blame it on- on somebody else, either Ukrainians or- or us, NATO. And this could possibly- possibly be- be what we- what we’re seeing today.

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