Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen on a screen set at Red Square as he addresses a rally and a concert marking the annexation of four regions of Ukraine Russian troops occupy - Lugansk, Donetsk,
Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, in central Moscow on September 30, 2022. WASHINGTON — After the Soviet Union decided to remove nuclear missiles from Cuba in October 1962,for his"statesmanlike decision," which he believed would prove"an important and constructive contribution to peace."
It was that perilous moment in history, when nuclear war suddenly became a real possibility, that President Biden also invoked last Thursday, when he unexpectedly addressed Putin's nuclear brinkmanship during a fundraiser in New York."We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis,". He added that, in his view, Putin"is not joking when he talks about the potential use of tactical and nuclear weapons.
, director of studies at the Atlantic Council who served in high-level national security roles for several administrations prior to the current one. But, Kroenig told Yahoo News,"the 'Armageddon' piece could have been presented in a more helpful way."