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President Joe Biden suggested in a Tuesday evening interview that the US military has a contingency plan in case Russian President Vladimir Putin carries out a nuclear attack on Ukraine.
The autocratic leader has stepped up his rhetoric in recent weeks in light of the successive setbacks to his illegal invasion of the neighboring nation.
Biden, for his part, stuck to his warning that the world could be approaching a point of “armageddon” if Putin unleashes a nuclear hell on Ukraine — despite critics accusing the president of reckless escalation.
“In fact, he can’t go on talking with impunity about using a tactical nuclear weapon as if it were rational,” the president told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
“The mistakes are made… and the miscalculation can occur. No one can know for sure what would happen. And it could end in Armageddon.”
Biden also condemned Putin for “relentlessly” killing Ukrainian civilians after a barrage of Russian shellfire hit non-combatant targets in multiple cities, including Kiev.
Asked if he plans to speak with Putin at the upcoming G20 summit, Biden said: “Look, he acted brutally. He acted brutally. I think he committed war crimes. And so I see no reason to meet him now.
Biden declined to comment directly on any planning in the face of Putin’s increasingly hostile threats, except to acknowledge that it took place.
‘There have been discussions about that, but I won’t go into that. It would be irresponsible of me to talk about what we would or wouldn’t do,” the president said.
Tapper asked, ‘Did you ask the Pentagon to play it out? I mean, just in case.’
“There was no need to ask the Pentagon,” the president replied.
President Joe Biden has a new sit-down interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Tuesday
Biden also called Putin a “rational actor” who embarked on an “irrational” invasion of Ukraine — and he was careful to distinguish the two amid intensified talks over the Russian president’s state of mind.
“I think he’s a rational actor who has miscalculated significantly,” Biden told CNN in a preview clip of his primetime interview released earlier today.
The president referred to the lead-up to Putin’s invasion earlier this year, when “no one believed he would invade Ukraine,” despite increasingly hostile rhetoric and a troop build-up on the border.
“You listen to what he says, if you listen to the speech he gave when that decision was made, he talked about the whole idea of - he had to be the leader of Russia uniting all Russian speakers – I mean, it’s just, I just think it’s irrational,” Biden said.
The Russian autocrat’s mental stability was the subject of speculation when he first launched the unprovoked attack in late February, when rumors circulated that his thinking had been changed by cancer therapies or steroids. None of these were ever confirmed.
Putin’s sanity is now once again under the microscope of the world as he and his accomplices continue to threaten to unleash nuclear power in Ukraine.
But during his Tuesday interview, Biden carefully distinguished between the spirit of his Kremlin counterpart and his plans for Kiev.
He interrupted Tapper when the reporter started: “So if he’s not rational…”
“No, I didn’t say he’s not rational, I think — I think the speech, his aims are not rational,” Biden clarified.
He stated that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is a “rational” man who is undertaking an “irrational” invasion of Ukraine.
He added that Putin likely believed his attempt to annex all of Ukraine as part of Russia would be “received with open arms.”
“I think he thought, Jake, I think he thought he would be welcomed with open arms, that this was Mother Russia’s home in Kiev, and that he would be welcomed there,” the president explained.
“And I think he just totally miscalculated.”
Ukrainian forces have launched an unprecedented and successful counter-offensive in recent weeks to take back Russian-occupied territory.
Putin was also dealt a blow when the Kerch Strait bridge connecting the Crimean peninsula to Russian-occupied Kherson was partially destroyed by an explosion.
The setbacks have prompted Russia to retaliate with indiscriminate rocket fire on Ukrainian cities, including Kiev.
Biden warned during a fundraising campaign last weekend that the world faces the prospect of a nuclear “armageddon” should Putin’s war escalate.
Multiple government officials have since confirmed that the US sees no change in Russia’s nuclear stance, while Biden’s critics accused him of needless verbal escalation.
The interview comes after G7 leaders condemned Russia’s recent attacks on Ukrainian civilian targets and warned the country of escalation with nuclear weapons (Photo: People watch their destroyed cars in the midst of damage caused by a missile strike in a residential area near tower 101, not far from Kiev Central Station on October 11)
Hours before joining CNN on Tuesday, Biden attended an emergency meeting of G7 leaders with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
They condemned Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine and Putin’s annexation of parts of the east of the country.
The G7 also called for continued investigations into the mysterious explosions that led to a leak in the Nord Stream pipelines between Russia and Germany, which have been inactive due to the war.
“We have reassured President Zelenskyy that we are fearless and steadfast in our commitment to provide Ukraine with the support it needs to maintain its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the White House said in a statement.
“We will continue to provide financial, humanitarian, military, diplomatic and legal support and will stand with Ukraine for as long as necessary. We are determined to support Ukraine in meeting its winter preparation needs.”
They also promised “heavy consequences” if Putin continued to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
Zelensky asked world leaders for more air defense systems as the Russian invasion nears its eight month mark at the end of October.