Due to Vladimir Putin’s threats to use nuclear weapons, the likelihood of “Armageddon” is now the highest since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, US President Joe Biden said. In Washington, he said, they are trying to calculate what way out Putin might have in the current situation that would prevent further escalation.
The Russian president is “not kidding” when he talks about “the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons, because his military is, in a sense, not up to par,” Biden said. If “things go the way they are, there is a direct threat of the use of nuclear weapons,” he believes:
We haven’t faced the threat of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Biden twice mentioned the possibility of a nuclear apocalypse. “I don’t think it’s possible to use tactical nuclear weapons without triggering Armageddon,” he said at a Senate campaign fundraiser in New York. It took place in the home of James Murdoch, the son of the chairman of the board of directors of the media company News Corp. Rupert Murdoch.
Representatives of the American administration previously reported that they had repeatedly privately warned the Russian leadership about the consequences of such a step. They spoke publicly about the “catastrophic consequences” of the use of nuclear weapons, but did not explain how exactly the United States would respond to their use.
According to Biden, Washington is trying to understand what opportunities Putin has to get out of this situation:
We are trying to understand what Putin’s escape route is? Where will he come out [из этой ситуации]? Where will he find a way out? Where will he end up in a situation in which he will not only lose face, but also significant power in Russia?
The talk about an escape route for Putin suggests the US and its allies are trying to determine whether Putin can be brought back from the brink – even though they have repeatedly said that decisions about Ukraine’s future must be agreed with Kiev.