WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) – After US President Joe Biden made drastic statements about Russia’s nuclear threats, the White House has reiterated its warning against the use of nuclear weapons. “Russia’s talk of using nuclear weapons is irresponsible. And there is no way to use them without unintended consequences,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said on Friday. The US has been warning Moscow for some time that the use of tactical nuclear weapons would have serious consequences.
During an appearance on Thursday, Biden said that after the threats from the Kremlin, the risk of a nuclear confrontation with catastrophic consequences was greater than it had been in 60 years. “We haven’t faced the possibility of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis,” Biden said, according to an official transcript.
He knows the Russian President Wladimir Putin pretty good, he’s spent quite a bit of time with him, Biden said. “He doesn’t joke when he talks about the possible use of tactical and nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons because his military is weak, you could say.”
At the same time, the US government said on Friday that no concrete steps had been taken by Russia to use nuclear weapons. So far, the USA has seen no reason to change anything about the deployment of its nuclear weapons. “Putin can de-escalate this at any time, there is no reason for escalation,” she said