US President Joe Biden said Thursday that Russia should be expelled from the G20 due to its invasion of Ukraine and warned that his government “will respond” if Moscow uses chemical weapons on Ukrainian territory.
(Read here: Russia and Ukraine: how could the world change after the war?)
During a press conference after participating in NATO and G7 summits in Brussels, Biden added that the United States’ response it would depend on “the nature of the use” of chemical weapons in Ukraine by Russia.
“Our response would be proportional,” Biden stressed from NATO headquarters. Asked if he thinks Russia should be kicked out of the G20, Biden answered yes.
“Today we talked about that. And I raised the possibility that if you can’t do that (expel Russia from the G20), if Indonesia (host country of the next summit) and others don’t agree, … we would have to allow Ukraine to attend the meetings as well,” the president added.
Russia confirmed precisely this Wednesday the intention of Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the G20 summit in Indonesia later this year and for now the host country has maintained its invitation to that leader despite his invasion of Ukraine.
(In other news: A month into the war in Ukraine: ‘All normal life has disappeared’)
Fears about a possible use of chemical or biological weapons by Russia in Ukraine focused part of the talks at the extraordinary NATO summit in Brussels and the allies considered that this measure “It would be unacceptable and would have serious consequences.”
Biden said the United States and its allies would decide “at the time” how they would respond to Russia’s possible use of chemical weapons.
The president acknowledged that “sanctions never deter” people like Putin, but he hoped that if the allies “maintain” the pressure on Moscow, the Russian leader will feel the “pain” and change course in Ukraine.
EFE
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