Russia-Ukraine war – live: ‘Putin is not joking’ about nuclear weapons, Biden warns

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US president Joe Biden has warned that the risk of nuclear “armageddon” is at its highest level since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, as Russian officials speak of the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons after suffering massive setbacks in the eight-month invasion of Ukraine.

“We have not faced the prospect of armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis,” Mr Biden said.

The US president said he knew his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin very well.

“He’s not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons because his military is, you might say, significantly underperforming.”

This came after Mr Putin said that he would use “all the means at our disposal” to defend Russia during its invasion of Ukraine.

However, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow has not changed its position that a nuclear war must never be fought.

Meanwhile, Russia has demanded that a United Nations vote on a resolution calling on Mr Putin to reverse his recent annexation of four more regions of Ukraine should be held in secret, in the apparent hope that more nations will vote in Moscow’s favour.