Ukrainian foreign minister: 'We do not expect' that NATO will defend Ukraine if Russia deploys chemical weapons

• Ukraine's foreign minister said he does not think NATO would come to Ukraine's defense if Russia deploys chemical weapons.
• Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told CBS News that officials are not ruling out a chemical attack.

Ukraine's foreign minister said he does not think NATO would come to Ukraine's defense if Russia uses chemical weapons to attack the sovereign nation.

"When you're asking me whether NATO will defend us, well, we do not expect that," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told Margaret Brennan from Kyiv on Sunday's "Face the Nation" on CBS News.

Russia has recently circulated false claims that the US is harboring chemical and biological weapons in Ukraine. The White House has said that could mean the Kremlin is planning to use such weapons themselves.

On Sunday, Kuleba said Ukrainians cannot rule out the possibility that Russia will use prohibited weapons, as they have used chemical weapons and violated international laws in the past.

Earlier this month, multiple human rights groups said Russia appeared to have used cluster bombs and vacuum bombs on Ukrainians. The United Nations said they have received credible information about indiscriminate attacks on civilians, a violation of international laws.

"We do not exclude that option because we see that Russia is using one prohibited weapon after another to break us down, and United Nations have already confirmed that some of the internationally prohibited weapons have been used against Ukrainian civilians, against our cities," Kuleba said.

The foreign minister added that Ukrainian forces are working with Western countries to identify what kind of chemical weapons Russia may deploy.

"What we are asking is very simple thing," Kuleba said. "We say arm Ukraine, and we will do the rest. Give us all the weapons necessary, and we will fight for our own land and for our people."

Ukrainian leaders have pleaded for additional resources from Western countries, who sent weapons but have been hesitant to deploy troops out of fear of escalating the conflict with Russia.

Putin initially said that his invasion of Ukraine would not target any civilians, but the offensive has since bombed multiple towns and cities, resulting in a massive refugee crisis and at least 1,663 Ukrainian civilian casualties as of Sunday.