The president said it was the first time since 1962 that there has been a “direct threat” of nuclear weapons’ being used, “if, in fact, things continue down the path they are going.”
President Joe Biden said Thursday the risk of nuclear "Armageddon" is the highest it has been in roughly 60 years after Russian President Vladimir Putin renewed his threats.
In remarks at a reception for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Biden said it was the first time since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis that there has been a "direct threat" of nuclear weapons’ being used, "if, in fact, things continue down the path they are going.”
“We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis,” he said, offering his bluntest comments about the use of nuclear weapons since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
Late last month, Putin renewed nuclear threats he made at the onset of Russia’s invasion.
Biden said Thursday that Putin's "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.”
Russia has faced significant setbacks as Kyiv’s troops this week forced Russian soldiers to retreat from territory they had previously controlled.
Biden added that he didn't think a tactical nuclear weapon could be used without inviting global catastrophe.
“I don’t think there’s any such thing as the ability to easily [use] a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon," he said.
Zoë Richards is the evening politics reporter for NBC News.
Kelly O'Donnell contributed .
