Officials meet three times a week to discuss various scenarios, which range from potential Russian invasions of countries like Moldova and Georgia to troops launching biological or chemical weapons.
As he prepared to leave for Europe, President Biden expressed concern about a “very real threat” from chemical weapons, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to rule out using nuclear weapons if Moscow faced a “existential threat.”
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with the European Union, G-7 partners, and NATO allies on Thursday, Biden stated that if Russia uses weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine, NATO will respond “in kind.”
“If he uses it, we will respond,” Biden said, referring to Putin.
Western leaders will rally behind Ukraine and its embattled president, Volodymyr Zelensky, while also resuming cooperation to punish Russia for the invasion.
According to CNN, White House officials consider the Ukraine crisis to be one of Biden’s “defining challenges” while in office.
“Being the leader of the world means being the leader of peace,” Zelensky told US lawmakers last week.
The embattled leader demanded “unrestricted military assistance,” citing Russia’s “unrestricted use of its entire arsenal.”
Zelensky demanded that NATO provide Kyiv with “1% of all your planes and 1% of all your tanks.”
He said: “When we will have all this, it will give us, just like you 100% security.”
