US President Joe Biden warned Thursday of the risk of an “apocalypse”, for the first time since the Cold War, due to threats of the use of nuclear weapons by Russia, whose troops are pressured by the Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Joe Biden said he was wondering about a way out for his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
“How can he get away with this? How can he position himself so as not to lose face or lose any significant part of his power in Russia?” questioned the American president during a fundraiser in New York.
“Not a bluff”
Facing stubborn Ukrainian resistance fueled by Western military aid, Vladimir Putin alluded to the atomic bomb in a televised speech on September 21. He said he was ready to use “all means” in his arsenal against the West, which he accused of wanting to “destroy” Russia. “It’s not a bluff,” he assured.
“We have not faced the prospect of an apocalypse since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis” in 1962, the US president warned Thursday.
According to experts, an atomic attack would likely employ tactical nuclear weapons, which have a smaller explosive charge than a strategic nuclear weapon.
But Washington believes that even a tactical nuclear attack could trigger a broader conflagration. Vladimir Putin “is not kidding when he talks about the potential use of tactical or biological or chemical nuclear weapons, because his army, one could say, is very inefficient,” the US president still judged.
Source: BFM TV