On Friday, the Pentagon said Russian President Vladimir Putin “has not yet made a decision to use nuclear weapons” and that Washington continues to take “Putin’s nuclear threats” seriously.
Statements in defense of the United States came a day after US President Joe Biden warned of the possibility of a nuclear “end of the world” (Armageddon) war due to “Putin’s threats” to use nuclear weapons.
“Our assessment is that President Putin has not yet made a decision to use nuclear weapons,” Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said at a briefing.
“At present, the US has no information that this situation has changed,” he added.
On Thursday, Biden said his Russian counterpart “wasn’t kidding when he threatened to use nuclear weapons,” while the US president added that he “knows Putin very well, to some extent.”
Earlier, the Russian leadership confirmed that Moscow does not threaten anyone with nuclear weapons and is fully committed to the statement of the leaders of the five nuclear countries on the inadmissibility of nuclear war, but also confirmed its right to use nuclear weapons in accordance with Russian nuclear doctrine, that is, in the event of an attack on Russia or its allies with the use of this type of weapon, or if aggression with the use of conventional weapons threatens the existence of the Russian state.
Source: CNN