“They get old drafts”: what could be behind the US attempts to speculate on the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine

State Department spokesman Ned Price on April 12 about the possibility of Russia using chemical weapons in Ukraine because of alleged failures of a special military operation are groundless and provocative.

This was stated by the Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov in the Telegram channel.

"N.

Price once again distinguished himself by empty chatter, not supported by a single piece of evidence, ”the diplomat emphasized.

Earlier, a State Department spokesman said that the United States was concerned that "Russia may turn to the use of chemical weapons" due to the fact that "the operation (special operation in Ukraine. -

) did not go according to plan."

He called the basis for this "concern" the experience attributed to the Russian Federation of using such weapons on "Russian and European soil."

Meanwhile, as Anatoly Antonov emphasized, the Russian Armed Forces are successfully fulfilling the tasks assigned to them and do not have chemical warfare agents at their disposal.

“Our country destroyed all stockpiles of chemical weapons back in 2017,” Antonov said.

In this regard, he called on Washington to stop spreading disinformation, advising the United States to step up the process of eliminating its own arsenal of chemical weapons.

“The United States is still the only country party to the Chemical Weapons Convention that has not fulfilled its international obligations.

The American arsenal of weapons of this type poses a real threat to humanity,” the ambassador recalled.

He also recommended paying attention to the data confirmed by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation about the preparation of provocations by Ukrainian radicals using chemicals.

According to him, they are of concern in exactly the same way as "the origin of these substances."

• Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov

• AP

• © Alexander Zemlianichenko

Touchstone

Meanwhile, Ukraine has already made an attempt to accuse Russia of using chemical weapons.

Thus, on April 11, a message appeared on the Telegram channel of the Azov nationalist battalion that the Russian military in Mariupol allegedly used an unknown poisonous substance by spraying it from a drone.

It was noted that the victims had "respiratory failure, vestibulo-atactic syndrome."

The statement was picked up by the Ukrainian media and spread on social networks.

However, in the West, he was treated rather cautiously.

In particular, the United States said they had no information about what happened.

“We are aware of social media posts alleging that Russian forces may have used chemical munitions in Mariupol.

We are unable to confirm anything at this time and we will continue to monitor the situation closely,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told the media the same day.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken spoke from the same position at a briefing on April 12.

“We cannot confirm anything.

I think the Ukrainian side too,” he said.

At the same time, he stated that there was “reliable information” in the United States that Russian troops in Mariupol could still allegedly “use various substances used to suppress riots” to weaken and neutralize Ukrainian fighters and civilians who had entrenched in their positions.

According to him, we can talk about tear gas mixed with additional chemicals.

In turn, Ned Price also accused Russia on April 12 of allegedly projecting its actions and plans onto other countries, in particular Ukraine and the United States.

“(Russia. -

) projects ... that chemical weapons are being actively developed on the territory of Ukraine, or that the United States is somehow involved in any programs (developments. -

) of chemical weapons in Ukraine, "said Price.

Despite this, he nevertheless admitted that Washington could not confirm the reports received from the Ukrainian side.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) also announced that the situation in connection with unconfirmed reports of chemical weapons in Mariupol was being monitored.

They also noted that they have information from both the Russian Federation and Ukraine with warnings about possible provocations.

However, Kyiv does not leave hopes for the emergence of a situation with chemical weapons, the responsibility for which can be laid on Russia.

Thus, the Deputy Minister of Defense of the country, Anna Malyar, on the air of the information marathon on April 13, pointed out the “high risk” that the Russian Federation would allegedly use chemical weapons against Ukrainians.

• Destroyed tank of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Volnovakha

• RIA News

• © Maxim Blinov

"Raiders of the West"

In Russia, the talk of American politicians about chemical weapons and Moscow's "plans" was called alarming.

As Konstantin Kosachev, Vice Speaker of the Federation Council, suggested in his Telegram channel, “chemical Hollywood” has already filmed shocking footage of future “poisonings” in Ukraine.

The "White Helmets" have already interviewed "witnesses", and

the network collected "one hundred percent" evidence.

He also noted that in this confrontation between the West and Russia, Ukraine is assigned the role of a supplier of pictures and emotions, and therefore new provocations are inevitable.

“The fact that everything can be done clumsily enough no longer bothers anyone: their audience is “warmed up” enough to believe in any production.

Even if the truth is revealed later, this will not change anything, ”Kosachev pointed out.

He also warned the Ukrainians that the West in these productions would sacrifice them, and not "real" Europeans, since it is the inhabitants of Ukraine that "are assigned the heroic role of rallying the West."

In turn, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov, in an interview with RIA Novosti, called the very real threat of "chemical terrorism from ... nationalists and units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine controlled by them."

“The high probability of such a scenario being realized is due to multiple chemical provocations arranged by armed extremist groups controlled by the United States and its NATO allies during the Syrian conflict,” he explained.

Meanwhile, drones with liquid containers and sprayers were found on the territory of one of the military units abandoned by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“Presumably, these aircraft could be used to spray poisonous substances to harm both the Russian Armed Forces and the civilian population and farmland,” one of the servicemen told RT.

The head of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Alexander Bastrykin, has already instructed to establish the circumstances of the possible use of poisonous agents by the Ukrainian military.

"Powell's Test Tube"

According to experts interviewed by RT, the current promotion of the “chemical” topic meets all the canons of the process of fabricating charges practiced by the United States.

“There is a well-known fact about Colin Powell's test tube, there is a case with the White Helmets in Syria.

All these schemes can be called standard, they are all used for provocation.

We saw a provocation in Bucha, in Kramatorsk.

The Americans cannot help but use these schemes, which have worked many times.

Therefore, they get these old drafts, on the basis of which they work, ”political scientist Alexander Asafov explained in a conversation with RT.

According to the director of the Franklin Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the United States at Moscow State University, Yuri Rogulev, Washington needs these provocations in order to continue to shape public opinion in the way they need, as well as to justify its anti-Russian campaign.

“This is connected with working out the issue of the image of Russia in the eyes of public opinion.

This image is formed on the basis of two postulates: about the alleged failure of the special operation and the alleged readiness of Russia to use chemical weapons because of this.

Despite the fact that these postulates are false, they are actively promoted by the West, falling into the fabric of the information war, ”the expert said in a comment to RT.

As, in turn, Vladimir Batyuk, head of the Center for Military-Political Studies of the Institute for US and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, explained to RT, the purpose of such provocations could be to disrupt negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

“Because the outcome of these negotiations may not satisfy the Western curators of the current Kiev regime.

They are interested in this conflict continuing as long as possible.

The cessation of the military conflict in Ukraine, and on conditions that are clearly unfavorable to Ukraine and its Western allies, is not in the interests of the United States and others like them, ”said the analyst.

At the same time, Alexander Asafov noted that Washington is not yet ready to fully engage the topic of chemical weapons, and therefore did not support the recent statements of Ukrainian radicals about supposedly already used chemicals.

“Their performance was untimely, and Washington was not prepared for this.

In addition, no media picture was made.

And if there is no such picture, then what will they show in the media?

Therefore, I would call it a false start, which the US did not support.

But this does not mean that there will be no more provocations.

On the contrary, they will prepare and direct them in more detail, set up all the media for this, in order to immediately distribute materials to all Western media, as happened with the provocation in Bucha, ”the political scientist summed up.