President Biden said Thursday that the West’s response to the potential Russian use of chemical weapons in Ukraine “would depend” on how bad such an attack was.

“We would respond if he uses it, but the nature of the response would depend on the nature of the use,” Biden said at a brisk press conference in Brussels hours after meeting with the leaders of the 29 other NATO countries.

Biden notoriously gave a similarly equivocal answer on Jan. 19 as he sought to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from invading. At that time, he said potential sanctions and other penalties against Russia might be less harsh for a “minor incursion,” which drew an outcry from Ukrainian leaders who said Biden had given Moscow a “green light” to attack.

The president spoke at the one-month mark of Russia’s invasion, which has resulted in widespread destruction to major urban areas and an exodus of more than 3.5 million refugees.

Biden was also indecisive when asked at the press conference whether Ukraine would have to cede land to Russia in order to achieve a cease-fire.

“That is a total judgment based on Ukraine. Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,” Biden said. “I don’t believe that they’re going to have to do that. But that’s a judgment — there’s negotiations, there are discussions, I should say, that have taken place that I’ve not been part of, including Ukrainians. And it’s their judgment to make.”

Biden gave another flexible reply when asked if Russia would be booted from the G-20 economic forum.

“My answer is yes. That would — depends on the G-20. That was raised today. And I raised the possibility if that can’t be done, if Indonesia and others do not agree, then we should, in my view, ask to have Ukraine be able to attend the meetings … and observe,” he said.

Biden ended his press conference after lashing out at a CBS reporter who asked about the prospect of new sanctions changing Putin’s course in the war — indicating that sanctions might have to remain in effect for a full year to have an impact.

“What makes you think Vladimir Putin will alter course based on the action you’ve taken today?” the reporter asked.

“I did not say that in fact the sanctions would deter him,” the president said. “Sanctions never deter. You keep talking about that. Sanctions never deter. The maintenance of sanctions, the maintenance of sanctions, increasing the pain … not just next month, the following month, but for the remainder of this entire year, that’s what will stop him,” Biden said.

The reporter followed up, “Do you believe the actions today will have an impact on Russia changing course in Ukraine?”

“That’s not what I said. You’re playing a game with me,” Biden said. “I know, the answer is no. I think what happens is we have to demonstrate — the purpose, the single most important thing as for us to stay unified and the world continue to focus on what a brute this guy is, and all the innocent people’s lives that are being lost and ruined and what’s going on. That’s the important thing.”

Biden added: “But look, if you’re Putin and you think that Europe is going to crack in a month or six weeks or two months, why not — They can take anything for another month. But we have to demonstrate — the reason I asked for the meeting — we have to stay fully, totally, thoroughly united.”