Putin ‘not going to scare us’: Biden

Interational Desk//

President Joe Biden said Friday the United States and Nato will not be intimidated by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and warned that the Western alliance would defend “every inch” of its territory if attacked.

“America and its allies are not going to be intimidated,” he said in remarks at the White House. Putin is “not going to scare us.”

Biden then addressed the Kremlin leader directly, pointing his finger into the television camera as he warned against any attack spilling beyond Ukraine onto Nato territory.

“America’s fully prepared, with our Nato allies, to defend every single inch of Nato territory,” he said. “Mr Putin, don’t misunderstand what I’m saying: every inch.”

Biden was speaking shortly after Putin presided over a ceremony in Moscow to declare that Russia has annexed four more regions of Ukraine, although Western-armed Ukrainian troops continue to battle to restore control there.

Putin and multiple supporters have suggested that having declared the swath of Ukraine to belong to Russia, the Kremlin could now legitimately resort to nuclear weapons to defend what it says is Russian territory.

Biden called out his Russian counterpart’s “reckless words and threats” but dismissed Friday’s ceremony as a “sham routine that he put on” to show strength, while instead demonstrating that “he’s struggling.”

Shortly after, Biden’s top national security official said while there is a chance of Putin resorting to nuclear weapons, this doesn’t appear imminent.

“There is a risk, given all the loose talk and nuclear saber rattling by Putin, that he would consider this and we’ve been equally clear about what the consequences would be,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters.

“We do not presently see indications about the imminent use of nuclear weapons.”

Sullivan underlined that Washington was communicating privately but “directly with Russia about the kind of decisive response the United States would have.”

The United States has walked a thin line since Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine in February by funneling ever greater military support to Kyiv while not getting directly involved — yet also guarding against potential for a spillover.