Former national security adviser John Bolton believes President Biden “overstated the gravity of the situation we’re in now” when he suggested the “prospect of Armageddon” is the highest it’s been since the crisis of the Cuban missiles. Bolton offered his observation in an interview Friday with CBS News senior investigative correspondent Catherine Herridge.
Mr. Biden made the comments at a private fundraiser in New York Thursday night, referring to the prospect of Russian President Vladimir Putin using tactical nuclear weapons in his war against Ukraine. Russia has suffered major setbacks in its war against Ukraine. In a new maneuver, Putin this week formalized his illegal annexation of four Ukrainian territories, warning that he could resort to the use of nuclear weapons to defend them.
“We haven’t faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis,” Biden said at the private event Thursday evening, adding that Putin “isn’t kidding when he talks about the ‘potential use of tactical nuclear or biological or chemical weapons. weapons because their military, one might say, is significantly underperforming.’
“I don’t think there’s such a thing as the ability to do that easily [use] a tactical nuclear weapon and not ending Armageddon,” the president continued.
Bolton said nuclear threats should be taken seriously, but he doesn’t think the world is in the situation the president described.
“I think any time we contemplate the potential use of nuclear weapons, we have to take it seriously,” Bolton told CBS News. “But I also think we have to be very clear about that. And I think the president’s comment overstated the gravity of the situation we’re in right now. I was particularly upset when he said, ‘You know, I don’t I can imagine the use of a tactical nuke that doesn’t lead to Armageddon. And it is this chain of causation from a demonstrative use of a tactical nuclear weapon that Vladimir Putin is currently threatening to an exchange of nuclear salvo between Russia and the United States.”
“It’s not inevitable,” he continued. “But Putin wants us to think it’s inevitable. He’d like to see people nervous. He’s trying to dissuade us. He’s done it several times after his invasion of Ukraine. Each time he’s been bluffing. There’s a risk here. of the use of nuclear weapons. I don’t think we are in the circumstances where that will happen, although we are watching it carefully. But it is very important that the West is not deterred by Putin’s use of this nuclear threat.” .
If Russia were to use a tactical nuclear weapon, the US would have to have a “very, very substantial response,” Bolton said. And if Putin were to authorize the use of a nuclear weapon, Bolton said he’s “signing his own suicide note.”
“A number of things have been suggested — strikes against Russian forces in multiple locations,” Bolton said. “I have no problem with that. They are the ones who invaded Ukraine. But I think it is more important to impose responsibility on the authorities in Russia who would have approved the use of a nuclear weapon, and I mean a lot. specifically Vladimir Putin . I think we should make it clear publicly so that not only Putin, but all the top Russian leaders, all the citizens of Russia know that if Putin authorizes the use of a nuclear weapon, he is signing his own suicide note.”
Bolton explained what those consequences might look like.
“Well, you know, he’s the command and control center of the Russian military,” Bolton said. “National Command authority is what we call it. It’s a legitimate military objective. And I think while [there are] We can also do a lot of other things, which he needs to know is on our target list at that time.”
The administration has not been specific about what its response would be if Putin were to deploy a nuclear weapon. President Biden has publicly warned Putin against using them, telling CBS News’ “60 Minutes” that his message to Putin would be: “Don’t do it. You’ll change the face of war like nothing since World War II.” He declined to elaborate on what the consequences would be, but said “the extent of what they do will determine what response would occur.”
For months, US officials have warned that Russia could use weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine. But officials have also said, as recently as this week, that they have seen no change in Russia’s nuclear posture.
“Russia’s talk of using nuclear weapons is irresponsible,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One on Friday. “And there is no way to use them without unintended consequences. … We have seen no reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture, nor do we have any indication that Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons imminently.”
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