President Joe Biden said Americans should not be worried about nuclear war with Russia after Russian President Vladimir Putin put his country’s nuclear deterrent on high alert on Sunday in an escalation of tensions with the west after attacking Ukraine last week.
‘Should Americans be worried about nuclear war?’ a reporter asked Biden during a White House event Monday. ‘No,’ the president shot back matter-of-factly. Press secretary Jen Psaki later said the White House sees ‘no reason to change its nuclear posture. ‘We think provocative rhetoric like this is dangerous adds to the risk of miscalculation, should be avoided, and we’ll not indulge in it.’
Psaki said after Putin announced that ‘aggressive statements’ by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) led him to ratchet up his nuclear defenses. ‘We are assessing President Putin’s directive and at this time we see no reason to change our own alert levels.’
Putin’s move raised concerns that the invasion of Ukraine could intentionally or mistakenly lead to a global nuclear war. A senior U.S. Defense official told the Associated Press that Putin is ‘potentially putting in play forces that, if there’s a miscalculation, could make things much, much more dangerous.’
Psaki said the United States and the 30-member NATO alliance have no “appetite or desire” for conflict with Russia. “Provocative rhetoric like this regarding nuclear weapons is dangerous, adds to the risk of miscalculation, should be avoided and we’ll not indulge in it.”
Biden held a call with U.S. allies and partners on Monday, as a U.S. official said a nuclear war must never be fought. Joining the call with Biden were leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, Romania and the United Kingdom along with NATO’s chief and top officials from the European Union.
A White House official told Reuters that Russia and the United States have long agreed that use of nuclear weapons would have devastating consequences. “A nuclear war cannot be won, and must never be fought,” the White House official said.
The White House also pointed out Russia has signed on to joint statements affirming a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. Russian and Ukrainian officials met on the Belarusian border to discuss a ceasefire on Monday while invading Russian forces encountered determined resistance from Ukrainian troops and civilians on a fifth day of conflict.
