President Biden stated on Thursday that the risk of “Armageddon” is at its greatest level since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, as Russian officials have hinted at the use of tactical nuclear weapons after suffering huge setbacks in their eight-month invasion of Ukraine.
“We have not faced the possibility of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis,” Biden stated at a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee event.
Later, he stated of Russian President Vladimir Putin, “We’ve got a person I know rather well.” Because his military is, you might say, considerably underperforming, he is not joking when he discusses the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons, biological weapons, or chemical weapons.
As Russia has suffered a series of strategic failures on the battlefield, U.S. officials have for months warned of the possibility that Russia could deploy weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine. However, Biden’s words were the starkest warnings yet from the U.S. government about the nuclear implications. U.S. officials have stated as recently as this week that they have observed no change in Russia’s nuclear forces that would need a change in the alert posture of U.S. nuclear weapons.
Tuesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated, “We have seen no need to modify our own strategic nuclear posture, nor do we have any information that Russia is ready to deploy nuclear weapons imminently.”
The mayor of Ukraine fears Putin’s nuclear weapons. 03:01
According to experts, the 13-day confrontation in 1962 that followed the United States’ revelation of the Soviet Union’s secret deployment of nuclear weapons to Cuba was the closest the world ever came to nuclear catastrophe. The crisis that occurred under the presidency of John F. Kennedy refocused attention on arms control on both sides of the Iron Curtain.
Biden also criticized the Russian nuclear doctrine, stating that the use of a tactical bomb with a lesser yield may rapidly escalate out of hand and cause global disaster.
Biden stated, “I do not believe it is possible to unleash a tactical nuclear weapon without bringing about Armageddon.”
Biden told Democratic fundraisers that he was “still trying to figure out” Putin’s “exit strategy” in Ukraine.
“From where does he escape?” Biden asked. Where does he find himself in a position where he loses not only face but also considerable power?
Putin has regularly alluded to the use of his country’s enormous nuclear weapons, most recently when he revealed plans to recruit Russian men to serve in Ukraine last month.
Putin said on September 21: “I want to remind you that our country also has numerous means of destruction… and when the territorial integrity of our country is challenged, to safeguard Russia and our people, we will undoubtedly use all the tools at our disposal.”
The national security adviser of the White House, Jake Sullivan, stated last week that the U.S. has made plain to Russia the “consequences” of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
“This is something we are aware of, taking very seriously, and engaging directly with Russia about, including the kind of decisive steps we would take if they proceeded down this path,” Sullivan said.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated earlier on Thursday that Putin is aware that “the world will never forgive” a nuclear strike by Russia.
“I am convinced that he realizes that following the use of nuclear bombs, he would no longer be able to maintain his life,” Zelenskyy added.