“Well, I don’t think he will,” Biden said in an interview with broadcaster CNN on Tuesday.
“But I think that it’s irresponsible for him to talk about it," Biden added.
Putin on September 21 announced a partial call-up of reservists to fight in Ukraine, backed a plan to annex parts of Ukraine and said he would be ready to use nuclear weapons to defend Russia, warning the West he was “not bluffing,” according to reports at the time.
Biden told CNN's Jake Tapper on Tuesday that he believed Putin "is a rational actor who’s miscalculated significantly.”
He said he believes Putin has committed war crimes in Ukraine.
Biden said of Putin: “He’s acted brutally. I think he’s committed war crimes.”
Biden warned in the interview that "the mistakes get made, the miscalculation could occur, no one could be sure what would happen and it could end in Armageddon,” CNN reported.
He stressed that a nuclear blast that kills thousands of people could lead to events spiraling out of control.
Biden has previously said that the risk of a nuclear “Armageddon” was the highest since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, as the Kremlin threatened to use nuclear force amid setbacks in its invasion of Ukraine.
Wednesday is day 231 of Russia's war on Ukraine.
(gs)
Source: PAP, CNN
