Ukraine war: Boris Johnson tells Sky News he fears Vladimir Putin may use chemical weapons as it is 'straight out of Russia's playbook'

Russia earlier claimed Ukraine was storing chemical weapons and was planning on deploying them - which the prime minister said was all part of the Kremlin's excuse to unleash its own chemical weapons.

Alix Culbertson

Political reporter @alixculbertson

Friday 11 March 2022 00:33, UK

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Boris Johnson has said he fears Vladimir Putin may deploy chemical weapons in Ukraine as that would be "straight out of Russia's playbook".

Speaking on Sky News' Beth Rigby Interviews programme, the prime minister said the only way the war in Ukraine can end is if the Russian president realises he has made a "catastrophic mistake".

Mr Johnson reiterated Western officials' fears that Mr Putin could use chemical weapons in Ukraine after Moscow accused Kyiv of planning to deploy them in the battlefield.

"The stuff that you're hearing about chemical weapons is straight out of their playbook," he said.

"They start saying that there are chemical weapons that have been stored by their opponents or by the Americans.

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"And so when they themselves deploy chemical weapons, as I fear they may, they have a sort of maskirovka - a fake story - ready to go.

"You've seen it in Syria. You saw it even in the UK. That's what they're already doing. It is a cynical, barbaric government."

On Wednesday, Moscow said it had uncovered a military biological weapons programme in Ukraine involving deadly pathogens such as plague and anthrax and called on the US to explain the "Ukrainian biological weapons lab".

A US official dismissed the claim as "absurd propaganda" and accused Russia of seeking retroactive pretexts for the war.

But on Thursday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said of the Kremlin: "They have the capacity and the capability."

Asked about Mr Johnson's warning, former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele told Sky News: "I certainly think if you look at what's happened in Syria and Chechnya and of course, what happened on our own streets in Salisbury, I wouldn't rule it out at all.

"I think as the Russian army becomes bogged down and clearly not realising its objectives militarily you are likely to see more indiscriminate killing and bombardment and possibly the use of a chemical weapons."

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Analysis: PM's warning is likely counter attempt to Putin's misinformation

Former chief of UK defence intelligence Air Marshall Philip Osborne told Sky News the PM may have been warning about a chemical weapons attack because he has "really high-grade intelligence".

"What is more likely is this is part of information warfare so Boris Johnson is trying to pre-empt or respond to information Putin is going to use chemical weapons," he said.

"So he could go really hard on the rhetoric, structured around Russian misinformation about chemical weapons facilities being in Ukraine.

"It's more likely this is a narrative/counter-narrative escalation."

He added that Russia's accusation Ukraine has chemical weapons could either be a narrative to "pre-empt" their use in Ukraine by the Kremlin or an excuse for why the invasion happened in the first place.

"The challenge is knowing which one - and that's part of what the West now has to grapple with, and what does it mean for Ukraine and the rest of the world," he said.

He added that if Russia did use chemical weapons it would be a "significant escalation and would be disproportionate to anything we've seen".

However, he said: "We can never know what Putin's thinking, you know what he's saying and doing, but not what he's thinking. It's really dangerous to be really definite."

Only Putin can accept he has made a 'catastrophic mistake'

On whether there is a compromise to make Russia halt the invasion, the PM said it "depends on Putin and it's up to him and to him alone".

"I think he needs to understand that he's made a disastrous miscalculation and that everybody can see that things aren't progressing in the way that he hoped," he added.

"His best bet, I think, is to withdraw, to cease the violence and to allow a peaceful negotiation to begin."

He added that Mr Putin could either choose to accept he has made a "catastrophic mistake now...or a bit later on" but it is "up to the Kremlin".

Mr Johnson warned the Russian president "needs to understand that his options are not good" but Mr Putin himself has "made it very difficult to find an offer".

Jonathan Powell, former chief of staff to ex-PM Tony Blair, told Sky News that the West needed to be "absolutely clear on chemical weapons and tactical nuclear weapons".

"If he [Mr Putin] starts using those on the population in Ukraine I really do not see how we could stand by," he said.

"Because we would have to fear for ourselves that he might use these barbaric weapons on us as well."

William Alberque, of the International Institute of Strategic Studies predicted Mr Putin would use chemical weapons "in order to demoralise the population" of Ukraine and "particularly as a false flag operation".

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He questioned whether the Russian president would "nakedly" use such weapons, telling Sky News: "I hope not, because I do think we're going to have to act".

Ukraine war: Boris Johnson tells Sky News he fears Vladimir Putin may use chemical weapons as it is 'straight out of Russia's playbook'

Analysis: PM's warning is likely counter attempt to Putin's misinformation

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