Kremlin Pushes Back Against US Chemical Weapons Claims

The Kremlin has pushed back against accusations from the United States that Russia has used 'choking agents' against Ukrainian forces in breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1997. Says that the accusations are "baseless", and that "Russia remains bound by its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention". On 1 May the US State Dep't imposed a new set of sanctions on 280 Russian individuals and entities in an effort to disrupt the Russian war machine. The measures have been imposed against individuals and firms related to chemical and biological weapon activities, mining and energy, and those alleged to be involved in the death of opposition leader Aleksey Navalny.

• In a statement the State Dep't alleges that Russia "has used the chemical weapon chloropicrin against Ukrainian forces in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). We make this determination in addition to our assessment that Russia has used riot control agents as a method of warfare [...]. The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident, and is probably driven by Russian forces’ desire to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield."
• CNN reports that "last April at a G7 summit, the foreign ministers of member nations said in a joint statement that Russia would be met with “severe consequences” for any use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons." However, according to Ukraine and the US it would seem that these warnings have had little impact on Russia's actions in the war.