Biden says risk of nuclear ‘Armageddon’ highest since Cuban Missile Crisis

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Post created on 12:00 pm

 

 

US President Joe Biden said Thursday that the risk of nuclear “Armageddon” is at the highest level since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, as Russian officials speak of the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons after suffering massive setbacks in the eight-month invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking at a fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin was “not joking when he talks about the use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons”.

Biden added, “We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis.”

Biden also challenged Russian nuclear doctrine, warning that the use of a lower-yield tactical weapon could quickly spiral out of control into global destruction.

“I don’t think there is any such thing as the ability to easily use a tactical weapon and not end up with Armageddon,” Biden said.

US officials for months have warned of the prospect that Russia could use weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine as Moscow has faced a series of strategic setbacks on the battlefield. As recently as this week, though, they have said they have seen no change to Russia’s nuclear forces that would require a change in the alert posture of US nuclear forces.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov on Friday called on Moscow’s troops to lay down arms in a video address in Russian.

“You can still save Russia from tragedy and the Russian army from humiliation,” Reznikov said in the video addressed to Russian troops. “We guarantee life, safety and justice for all who refuse to fight immediately. And we will ensure a tribunal for those who gave criminal orders.”

“You have been deceived and betrayed” by the Kremlin, Reznikov said.

“It’s easier for them to tell you that you died heroically in battle against imaginary NATO hordes. It is true that NATO countries are supplying us with weapons. But it is Ukrainian soldiers who are beating you with these weapons,” Reznikov said.

However, in Russia, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill said Friday that Vladimir Putin’s reign over Russia had been mandated by God, congratulating the Kremlin chief on his 70th birthday.

“God put you in power so that you could perform a service of special importance and of great responsibility for the fate of the country and the people entrusted to your care,” the patriarch said, joining a chorus of Russian officials congratulating Putin on his birthday.

[FRANCE24]