PUTIN'S BACK IS UP AGAINST THE WALL — BIDEN

PRESIDENT WARNS RUSSIA COULD USE CHEMICAL WEAPONS AS UKRAINE REPELS MARIUPOL ATTACK.

- Nicholas Cecil

JOE BIDEN warned today that Vladimir Putin’s “back is against the wall” after the failure of his lightning invasion plan which has seen thousands of Russian soldiers killed.

The US president stressed that an increasingly desperate Mr Putin could resort to even more barbaric tactics in Ukraine, including possibly the use of chemical weapons, as he seeks to overcome fierce resistance.

British defence chiefs said today that Ukrainian forces had again repulsed Russian attempts to seize the southern city of Mariupol. But the sheer horror of what the Russian president is inflicting on the people of Ukraine was laid bare by reports that children in Mariupol, a thriving port city only weeks ago, were now dying from dehydration.

Speaking to business leaders in Washington last night, Mr Biden said: “Putin’s back is against the wall. He wasn’t anticipating the extent or the strength of our unity. And the more his back is against the wall, the greater the severity of the tactics he may employ.”