For US President Joe Biden, the world is at risk of a nuclear “Armageddon” after Vladimir Putin threatened to use tactical nuclear weapons in the Ukrainian conflict. For Biden it is a clear message: no one should underestimate an extraordinary danger if Russia deploys tactical nuclear weapons, some of his aides said.
During a fundraising event, Biden referred to Ukraine. She said that Putin “was not kidding when he talks about the use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons.”
“We haven’t faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis,” the president added, suggesting that Putin’s threat is real “because his military is, you could say, significantly underperforming” expected in military operations in Ukraine.
This Friday, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre did not directly respond to a question about whether Biden had gone to the event with the intention of invoking Armageddon.
“Russia’s discourse on the use of nuclear weapons is irresponsible and there is no way to use them without unintended consequences. It can’t happen. “If the Cuban missile crisis has taught us anything, it is the value of reducing nuclear risk and not flaunting it,” the spokeswoman said.
On the other hand, he specified that Biden did not make his comments because there is new intelligence information about the imminent use of nuclear bombs by Russia.
“The president was referring to concerns about threats made by Putin to use nuclear weapons. We have seen no reason to readjust our strategic nuclear position, and we also have no indication that Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons in an eminent way,” Jean-Pierre stressed.
Biden’s national security team has warned for months that Russia could use weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine as it has faced a series of strategic setbacks on the battlefield. But the president’s comments were the US government’s harshest warnings about the stakes in nuclear matters.
Another US official told the AP that Biden was also trying to warn against underestimating the danger of any level of tactical nuclear weapons.
“There is some concern in the administration that Russia has determined that it can use its nuclear arsenal in a way other than a ‘full-blown’ nuclear attack on Ukraine and face only a limited reaction from American and Western allies, who are determined to to prevent the Ukraine conflict from escalating into a broader war,” said an official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the administration’s thinking.
Putin has repeatedly alluded to the use of his country’s nuclear arsenal. “I want to remind you that our country also has various means of destruction and when its territorial integrity is threatened, to protect Russia and our people we will certainly use all means at our disposal,” Putin said. and “is not a bluff”.
