The Pentagon and White House have assembled a team of national security officials who have been secretly meeting three times a week to plan out scenarios on how the United States would respond if President Vladimir Putin used chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons in Ukraine. In addition, this team is also creating other responses to scenarios that could occur.

The team dubbed “the Tiger Team”  was established four days after Russia invaded Ukraine and is led by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. The team has been meeting in classified settings for hours on end drafting responses and creating “red lines” that if crossed, would put the United States in a military conflict with Russia.

The news comes as some intelligence officials believe that it’s very possible Russia may turn to its chemical, biological, or even nuclear weapons as the war in Ukraine is taking much longer than expected. Today,  NATO’s Secretary-General Jen Stoltenberg warned there’s growing evidence showing that Russia is preparing to use chemical weapons in Ukraine. Russia has denied this claim.

A senior US official speaking to the New York Times said that if Russia was to use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine “all bets are off” when it comes to the United States and NATO involving themselves in the war. When pushed for additional information, that official reportedly declined to elaborate.