US President Joe 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”.
“We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis,” he added. He suggested the threat from Putin is real “because his military is — you might say — significantly underperforming.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Friday did not directly respond to a question about whether Mr Biden had gone into the event intending to invoke Armageddon, as the White House sought to clarify the president’s off-the-cuff comments.
She told reporters: “Russia’s talk of using nuclear weapons is irresponsible and there’s no way to use them without unintended consequences. It cannot happen.”
She added that “if the Cuban missile crisis has taught us anything, it is the value of reducing nuclear risk and not brandishing it”.
Biden’s national security team has warned for months that Russia could use weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine as it has faced a series of strategic setbacks on the battlefield. But the president’s remarks were the starkest warnings yet by the US government about the nuclear stakes.
One US official said Biden was also trying to warn against underestimating the danger any level of tactical nuclear weapons.
There is some concern in the administration that Russia has determined it can use its nuclear arsenal in a manner short of a “full-blown” nuclear attack on Ukraine and face only limited reaction from US and Western allies who are determined to keep the Ukraine conflict from turning into a broader war, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Mr Putin has repeatedly alluded to using his country’s vast nuclear arsenal, including last month when he announced plans to conscript Russian men to serve in Ukraine.
“I want to remind you that our country also has various means of destruction … and when the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, to protect Russia and our people, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal,” Mr Putin said. “It’s not a bluff.”
In Europe, leaders sought to turn down the volume after Mr Biden’s stark warning.
Asked about Mr Biden’s remarks, French President Emmanuel Macron said it was crucial to speak with care on the nuclear threat.
“I have always refused to engage in political fiction, and especially … when speaking of nuclear weapons,” Mr Macron said at a EU summit in Prague. “On this issue, we must be very careful.”
European Council President Charles Michel told reporters that leaders take “every escalation very seriously”.
“Threats will not intimidate us,” Mr Michel said. “Instead, we are going to remain calm. We are going to keep cool heads and we will, each time, denounce the irresponsible character of these threats.”
