Joe Biden warns that Putin nuclear risk hits ‘Armageddon’ for first time since 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis

Joe Biden has said the nuclear risk level is at its highest level since the Cuban Missile Crisis after Vladimir Putin made tactical strike threats.

The US President has said the risk level is at ‘Armageddon’ for the first time since 1962. He also warned that the Russian leader is “not joking” about using the weapons as Russia continues to suffer setbacks in Ukraine.

After annexing four regions of Ukraine, Putin said that the US had set a “precedent” by using nuclear weapons in World War Two. He added that his country would use every means at its disposal in the conflict in Ukraine.

What did Joe Biden say about nuclear weapons?

Biden addressed a Democratic Party fundraiser audience in New York when he spoke of Putin’s nuclear threats. He warned that the Russian president’s nuclear warnings were serious, saying that he was “not joking when he talks about the use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons because his military is you might say significantly underperforming."

He added: “We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis. I don’t think there is any such a thing as the ability to easily use a tactical weapon and not end up with Armageddon.”

The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis saw tensions rise between the US and Cuba, with many historians and experts believing it to be the closest the world has been to ‘armageddon’. The crisis was created after the Soviet Union secretly shipped nuclear weapons to Cuba.

Biden also warned that if Russia begins to use low-yield tactical weapons, this could quickly spiral into using stronger weapons. He said the US was “trying to figure out” how to end the war without the conflict resulting in the use of such weapons.

His comments come after the US last week said it was not expecting the use of the weapons anytime soon by Russia as there was no change in nuclear forces in the country.

What did Putin say about nuclear weapons?

Putin made the thinly-veiled threats to use nuclear weapons in a speech he gave during the annexation ceremony, in which Russia annexed the Kherson, Donetsk, Luhank and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine. The move came after ground was lost in eastern Ukraine and announced a partial mobilisation to bolster troops.

Putin said: "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." The Russian President spoke pointedly at the West, before stating: “It’s not a bluff”.

The statement was condemned by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said: "He understands that after the use of nuclear weapons he would be unable anymore to preserve, so to speak, his life, and I’m confident of that.”