Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Russia will not turn down a meeting between president Vladimir Putin and US president Joe Biden at a forthcoming G20 meeting and would consider the proposal if it receives one.
Speaking on state television, Lavrov said Russia was willing to listen to any suggestions regarding peace talks, but that he could not say in advance what this process will lead to.
Mr Biden's warning that the world is at risk of a nuclear “Armageddon” was designed to send an unvarnished message that no one should underestimate the extraordinary danger if Russia deploys tactical nuclear weapons in its war against Ukraine, administration officials said.
The president’s grim assessment, delivered during a Democratic fundraiser on Thursday night, rippled around the globe and appeared to edge beyond the boundaries of current US intelligence assessments.
US security officials continue to say they have no evidence that Vladimir Putin has imminent plans for a nuclear strike.
Mr Biden veered into talk about Ukraine at the end of his standard fundraising remarks, saying that Putin was “not joking when he talks about the use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons”. - Additional reporting from Associated Press
