By Janet Ekstract
İSTANBUL -On Thursday, in a phone conversation with U.S. President Biden, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Biden that holding Antalya talks with the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia and Turkey is a diplomatic victory despite the fact that no concrete peace deal resulted. Meanwhile, in new developments, the U.S. is warning that Russia may be planning to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine. On Wednesday, the U.S. signaled that Russia could very well engage in chemical warfare and the Biden administration denied Russia’s claims that the U.S. has biological and chemical weapons across the globe.
In a series of tweets, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Russia is making false claims which she said Chinese officials had also made. Psaki said: “This is preposterous.” She added: “It’s the kind of disinformation operation we’ve seen repeatedly from the Russians over the years in Ukraine and in other countries, which have been debunked and an example of the type of false pretexts we have been warning the Russians would invent.” She said everyone needs to be alerted to Russia’s “clear pattern” of creating false flags and misinformation campaigns. Psaki said the U.S. is in full compliance with its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and said that Washington “does not develop or possess such weapons anywhere.” She added: “It’s Russia that has long maintained a biological weapons program in violation of international law.”
Meanwhile, the head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said earlier this week that she is “horrified” by an attack on the maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine. UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said the number of casualties is not yet known but fears the worst. Russell said: “Attacks against civilian and civilian infrastructure – including hospitals, water and sanitation systems and schools – are unconscionable and must stop immediately.” İn addition, Russia is being investigated for alleged war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Russell said that UNICEF repeats its call for a ceasefire and is “urging all parties to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect children from harm and to ensure that humanitarian actors can safely and swiftly reach children in need.” She added: “The children of Ukraine desperately need peace.” In addition, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed 18 attacks on health facilities, healthcare workers and ambulances.
