NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has warned of a possible use of chemical weapons by Russian troops in Ukraine.
"We are concerned that Russia may stage a false flag operation, possibly involving chemical weapons," Stoltenberg said before a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels on Wednesday.
He was referring to "absurd claims" by Moscow about "biological laboratories and chemical weapons in Ukraine".
It is closely monitored whether Russia is trying to create a pretext for using these weapons.
It has already used such weapons against political opponents and made their use in Syria possible.
Thomas Gutschker
Political correspondent for the European Union, NATO and the Benelux countries based in Brussels.
Follow I follow
Last Friday, US President Joe Biden publicly warned against a Russian use of chemical weapons in Ukraine and said Russia would pay a "high price" for it.
Stoltenberg referred to this, adding: "I will not speculate on a military response." NATO defense ministers are discussing the consequences of Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine.
They are expected to instruct the Alliance's military planners to work out options for NATO's medium- and long-term adaptation to the new threat landscape.
That could mean stationing "substantially more forces" in the eastern part of the alliance, Stoltenberg said, "in greater readiness and with more upstream equipment."
A "major increase" in air force and naval presence will also be considered, as well as increased integrated missile defense and cyber defense, as well as "more and larger exercises."
Speaking of the current short-term response, the NATO Secretary General said "hundreds of thousands of troops" from the alliance were on high alert, including 40,000 under NATO's direct command, particularly in the east of the alliance.
This refers to the reinforced battlegroups in the three Baltic States and in Poland, as well as to the Alliance's rapid reaction force, the spearhead of which, provided by France, has been transferred to Romania.