While speaking at a fundraiser in New York City last Thursday, President Joe Biden warned that he’s taking Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats seriously in the war with Ukraine, according to The Associated Press.
Key quote: “We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis,” Biden said.
- He continued to say that Putin is “not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons because his military is ... underperforming.”
Is there cause for concern?
On Sunday, John Kirby, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, told ABC that Biden’s statements weren’t warning of an imminent threat.
- “These comments were not based on new or fresh intelligence or new indications that Mr. Putin has made a decision to use nuclear weapons and, quite frankly, we don’t have any indication that he has made that kind of decision,” Kirby said.
- “Nor have we seen anything that would give us pause to reconsider our own strategic nuclear posture in our efforts to defend our own national security interests and those of our allies and partners.”
- The New York Times reports that some U.S. officials are stating that they don’t believe Putin’s veiled threats are equivalent to the severity of the Cuban Missile Crisis, stating that the chances of Putin resorting to the use of nuclear weapons remain low.
“But they are clearly worried that Russian military doctrine treats tactical weapons as a potential element of conflict between ground forces,” the New York Times reported.
Looking back
Biden’s warning came after Putin announced a partial mobilization in September, drafting 300,000 Russian reservists, with underlying threats of turning to nuclear weaponry, according to The Washington Post.
- “The territorial integrity of our motherland, our independence and freedom will be secured, I repeat, with all the means we have,” Putin said. “Those who try to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the prevailing winds can turn in their direction.”
Details: The Associated Press added that press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre did not directly comment on whether or not Biden intended to invoke Armageddon with his statements.
- She stated, “Russia’s talk of using nuclear weapons is irresponsible and there’s no way to use them without unintended consequences. It cannot happen.”