Biden says Putin threats real, could spark nuclear 'armageddon'

NEW YORK -US President JoeBiden said on Thursday the world risks nuclear Armageddon for the first time since the Cold War and that he is trying to find Russian President VladimirPutins off-ramp in the Ukraine conflict.

We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, Mr Biden said at a Democratic party fundraising event in New York.

Mr Putin is not joking when he threatens to use nuclear weapons to pursue his invasion of Ukraine, MrBiden said.

Mr Biden made his unusually strong comments about the risks created by MrPutins nuclear threats while speaking to party supporters at an event hosted in the Manhattan home of Mr James Murdoch, son of newspaper mogul Rupert Murdoch.

Referring to the nuclear standoff 60 years ago triggered by the Soviet Union stationing missiles in Cuba, within easy range of the United States, Mr Biden said that for the first time since the Cuban missile crisis, we have a direct threat from the use of nuclear weapons if in fact things continue down the path they are going.

Were trying to figure out what is Putins off-ramp, he said.

MrPutin has made thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons if he feels he has run out of options in his bid to seize swaths of Ukrainian territory in the face of stiff resistance by Western-back Kyiv.

Experts say these would most likely be relatively small, tactical strikes. But Mr Biden warned that a tactical strike in a limited area would still risk triggering a wider conflagration.

Weve got a guy I know fairly well, MrBiden said.

MrPutins not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons, because his military is, you might say, significantly underperforming”.

However, I dont think theres any such thing as the ability to easily (use) a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon”, Mr Biden said.

Im trying to figure out what isPutins off-ramp, MrBiden said. Where does he find a way out? Where does he find himself in a position that he does not, not only lose face, but lose significant power within Russia?

Mr Biden’s comments are in contrast to those from National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who said last week that the US sees Russia’s threat to use nuclear weapons as the latest in a string of similar warnings Mr Putin has employed since the invasion began in February.

“We do not presently see indications about the imminent use of nuclear weapons,” Mr Sullivan said. “We are, of course, monitoring that carefully and staying in close consultation with allies and partners.” More On This Topic US would know if Russia prepares nuclear strike, say experts Russia's small nuclear arms: A risky option for Putin and Ukraine alike Still, Mr Sullivan said, the US has clearly conveyed that there would be severe consequences if Russia uses nuclear weapons, and continues to take the threat seriously.

Mr Biden in recent weeks has been hitting the road to promote recent Democratic legislative victories and to raise money for the party, including fundraisers in New York last month when he was there to address the United Nations General Assembly.

Mr Biden earlier on Thursday attended a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee in New Jersey at the Middletown home of Governor Phil Murphy, a former Goldman Sachs Group executive. AFP, BLOOMBERG