“We’ve received a man I do know pretty nicely,” the president stated of Putin, in prolonged remarks in regards to the battle. “He’s not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or organic or chemical weapons, as a result of his navy is, you may say, considerably underperforming,” Biden continued, opening a window into how a lot it has been weighing on him only a month earlier than the midterm elections and amid a spate of home campaigning and fundraising.
He additionally spoke to the fragile — and, in some sense, seemingly unattainable — job of managing the disaster from afar whereas “attempting to determine, what’s Putin’s off-ramp? … The place does he discover a manner out?”
A key query earlier than U.S. officers and their Western allies, Biden added, is the place Putin finds himself if he loses not solely face but additionally important energy.
“Now we have the specter of a nuclear weapon if, in reality, issues proceed down the trail they’re going,” he reiterated.
