Biden says Russia will pay a ‘severe price’ if they use chemical weapons

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President Joe Biden warned that Russia would pay a “severe price” if it used chemical weapons in Ukraine.

A reporter asked Mr Biden about intelligence reports that Russia might use chemical weapons during its assault on Russia or create a false flag operation to justify the use of chemical weapons.

“I’m not going to speak about the intelligence but Russia would pay a severe price if it used chemical weapons,” the president told reporters.

Mr Biden made the remarks after he announced that the United States would revoke Russia’s “Most Favoured Nation” status and ban Russian seafood, diamonds and vodka. The measures are just the latest announcement after Russian President Vladimir Putin began his assault on Ukraine.

The United States joins other countries in the Group of Seven--which includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom--as well as Nato and the European Union in revoking Permanent Normal Trade Relations.

“We’re going to continue to squeeze Putin,” he said, adding that the G-7 would take measures to prevent Russia from borrowing from leading international financial institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.