The US on Thursday warned that Vladimir Putin might launch a false flag chemical weapons attack before invading Ukraine after Russia expelled America’s deputy ambassador and demanded Washington pull all of its troops out of Central and Eastern Europe.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Russia’s plans for a false flag operation could include a chemical weapons attack on its own people as it tries to manufacture a pretext for invading Ukraine.
Addressing the United Nations Security Council, he gave the fullest account of what Washington knows of Russia’s plans and he demanded that Russia immediately begin withdrawing troops from Ukraine’s borders.
Blinken, who upended his travel plans to speak at the UN, said Russia was preparing for an invasion ‘in the coming days.’ ‘We don’t know exactly the formal take,’ he said, explaining that he believes Putin will start an invasion by creating an excuse to attack.
‘It could be a fabricated so-called terrorist bombing inside Russia, the invented discovery of the mass grave, a staged drone strike against civilians, or a fake – even a real – attack using chemical weapons.’
AC