Nuclear “Apocalypse”
US President Biden warns that the world is closer to “Armageddon” than it has been since the Cuban Missile Crisis
US President Joe Biden says he knows Russian President Vladimir Putin quite well
© Mandel Ngan / AFP
Biden says Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is “not joking” when he threatens to use nuclear weapons. The US President therefore warns of the danger of a nuclear “apocalypse”.
US President Joe Biden has warned of the danger of a nuclear “apocalypse” in the face of Russian threats of a possible use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war. The risk of this is as high as it was at the time of then-President John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, Biden said on Thursday at a Democratic fundraiser in New York. Meanwhile, Moscow accused Ukraine of “calling for the start of a new world war”.
Joe Biden: Putin is ‘not joking’
In a television speech on September 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to use nuclear weapons. According to experts, these would most likely be attacks with tactical nuclear weapons. Their explosive power is less than that of strategic nuclear weapons. However, Biden warned that a tactical nuclear attack still carries the risk of widespread impact.
Putin “does not joke” when he threatens to use tactical nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, Biden said. His threats are a consequence of the defeats of the Russian army on the battlefields in Ukraine.
Selenskyj irritated with NATO demand – Moscow speaks of “third world war”
According to their own statements, the Ukrainian armed forces were recently able to recapture areas occupied by Russia. “Since October 1, more than 500 square kilometers of land and dozens of towns have been liberated in the Cherson region alone,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday evening.
Meanwhile, Moscow condemned statements made by Zelensky, who in an interview spoke of NATO’s “preventive strikes” against Russia. According to the Russian news agency Ria Novosti, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov saw this as a “call for the start of a new world war with outrageous and unforeseeable consequences”. A spokesman for the Ukrainian president then explained on Facebook that Zelenskyy’s statements had referred to preventive sanctions and not to preventive attacks.
Meanwhile, France is considering supplying more Caesar howitzers to Ukraine, according to President Emmanuel Macron. Paris could possibly deliver six to twelve more Caesars to Kyiv, which were actually intended for Denmark, AFP learned from an informed source. France is also considering the delivery of 20 Bastion armored vehicles. Details on arms deliveries should be discussed at the informal EU summit in Prague on Friday, Macron said on Thursday evening.