Will respond if Putin uses chemical arms in Ukraine: Biden

ATLANTA (Pajhwok) US President Joe Biden thinks Russia should be removed from the Group of Twenty (G20) major economies -- a topic raised during his meetings with world leaders in Brussels.

“My answer is yes, depends on the G20,” Biden said, when asked if Russia should be removed from the group, according to Reuters news agency.

Biden also said if countries such as Indonesia and others did not agree with removing Russia, then in his view, Ukraine should be allowed to attend the meetings.

He took questions at a news conference at the NATO headquarters, warnings of a possible chemical weapons attack by Russia in Ukraine.

The first question to Biden was whether the US had gathered specific intelligence that President Vladimir Putin was considering deploying chemical weapons and whether the US or NATO respond with military action if he did use them.

Meanwhile, the US announced new sanctions on hundreds of Russians and moved to help Ukrainian refugees.

Ordinarily, organisers of summits have months to prepare the so-called “deliverables:” announcements for heads of state to make when the meeting concludes to show they were able to get something done. CNN reported.

This time, decisions were forced in only a matter of days on how best to demonstrate unity, support Ukraine and punish Russia.

In some ways, CNN added, the time crunch was evident; many of the announcements made Thursday were unilateral, rather than a single coordinated announcement.

Biden hoped to set a tone on sanctions by slapping restrictions on more than 300 members of the Russian Duma and over 40 Russian defence companies.

Biden also announced the US will accept up to 100,000 refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine, a major step toward easing a brewing humanitarian crisis in Europe.

A senior administration official said a “full range of legal pathways” would be utilised to welcome the refugees.

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