The United States has not seen any indications that Russia is preparing to imminently use nuclear weapons, government officials said Friday, after President Joe Biden warned of the potential risk of "Armageddon" as Moscow continues its nuclear-saber rattling amid its war in Ukraine.
Asked if new intelligence had prompted the president to deliver the stark warning, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters, "No."
"The president was speaking about concerns about (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's threats to use nuclear weapons," she said.
Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesman of the State Department, also said the United States had not seen any reason to adjust its own strategic nuclear posture, while it continues to monitor the situation "very carefully."
Biden made the dire warning during a Democratic fundraiser in New York on Thursday.
"First time since the Cuban missile crisis, we have a direct threat of the use of the nuclear weapon if, in fact, things continue down the path they've been going," the president said, referring to the 1962 confrontation that brought the United States and the then Soviet Union to the brink of a nuclear war.
He also said the world has "not faced the prospect of Armageddon" since the Cuban missile crisis, and noted that Putin is "not joking when he talks about the potential use of tactical and nuclear weapons, or biological or chemical weapons, because his military is, you might say, significantly underperforming."
With Russia recently suffering setbacks in the face of a Ukrainian counteroffensive, fears have grown that Putin could turn to nuclear weapons that have not been used in war since the U.S. atomic bombings of Japan in 1945.
Biden said in New York, "We're trying to figure out...What is Putin's off-ramp?...Where does he find himself in a position that he does not not only lose face, but lose significant power within Russia?"
Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which began in late February, has led to international condemnation and the imposition of economic sanctions by the United States, its allies and partners.
The Biden administration has maintained it will not send U.S. troops to Ukraine amid concern it could be drawn into a direct conflict with nuclear-armed Russia that leads to "World War III."
But the United States, along with other member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, has provided massive security assistance to Ukraine to help it defend itself against Russia.
