President Joe Biden mentioned Thursday the danger of nuclear “Armageddon” is the very best it has been in roughly 60 years after Russian President Vladimir Putin renewed his threats.
In remarks at a reception for the Democratic Senatorial Marketing campaign Committee, Biden mentioned it was the primary time for the reason that 1962 Cuban Missile Disaster that there was a “direct risk” of nuclear weapons’ getting used, “if, in reality, issues proceed down the trail they’re going.”
“We now have not confronted the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Disaster,” he mentioned, providing his bluntest feedback about the usage of nuclear weapons since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
Late final month, Putin renewed nuclear threats he made on the onset of Russia’s invasion.
Biden mentioned Thursday that Putin’s “not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or organic or chemical weapons, as a result of his navy is, you may say, considerably underperforming.”
Russia has confronted vital setbacks as Kyiv’s troops this week compelled Russian troopers to retreat from territory they’d beforehand managed.
Biden added that he did not suppose a tactical nuclear weapon may very well be used with out inviting international disaster.
“I don’t suppose there’s any such factor as the flexibility to simply [use] a tactical nuclear weapon and never find yourself with Armageddon,” he mentioned.
Kelly O’Donnell contributed.