US President Joe Biden said Russian leader Vladimir Putin is not likely going to use a nuclear weapon in the war he is waging on Ukraine in his latest interview. Biden also criticized Putin for floating the idea of doing so.
In an interview with CNN Tuesday, Biden was pressed on the possibility of his Russian counterpart resorting to using nuclear weapons on Ukraine as the war moves toward its eighth month. Biden said he does not believe Putin would escalate the war to that extent. This follows Biden’s previous warning that the world risks “Armageddon” regarding Putin’s threats to use nuclear weapons on Ukraine.
“Well, I don’t think he will, but it is irresponsible of him to talk about it,” said the US leader.
“He thought he was going to be welcomed with open arms, that this was the home of Mother Russia in Kyiv, and that where he was going to be welcomed, and I think he just totally miscalculated,” said Biden.
The US leader did not rule out the possibility of meeting with Putin on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali in November. However, Biden made clear that there are no plans for talks on Ukraine. Biden said he does not intend to meet with Putin but added that he would consider meeting if Putin wanted to negotiate over the release of basketball star Brittney Griner, who is currently detained in Russia.
In a major escalation in the war, Putin ordered air strikes across civilian targets in Ukraine following the partial blast on the Kerch Strait Bridge that connected Russia to the annexed Crimea region. The strikes killed 19 people, according to Kyiv, and four people died from the bridge explosion.
The air strikes across Ukraine led to Kyiv increasing its requests for air defense capabilities and longer-range weapons to fight back against Russian forces. Ukrainian energy minister Herman Halushchenko told CNN that 30 percent of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure was damaged by the Russian strikes, causing power outages and water supply interruptions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address that Russia is trying to destroy Ukraine’s energy system, with the Ukrainian people being the second target.