French President Emmanuel Macron criticized his American counterpart’s warning about nuclear Armageddon on Friday, stating that “we must speak with prudence” on such important matters.
President Joe Biden grabbed headlines around the world for warnings he made at a donor event about the threat of a nuclear disaster on the horizon.
BIDEN’S NUCLEAR ‘ARMAGEDDON’ WARNING RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT DETERRING PUTIN
At a fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Biden said the risk has not been this high since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis when John F. Kennedy was president, going further in rhetoric than any other member of his administration.
“We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis,” Biden said in New York City.
Those hair-raising statements didn’t appear to sit well with Macron.
“We must speak with prudence when commenting on such matters,” the French leader said the following day, according to the Daily Mail. “I have always refused to engage in political fiction, and especially … when speaking of nuclear weapons.”
With Russia severely struggling in the war in Ukraine, Biden added that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “not joking when he talks about the use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons.” This is because, Biden said, “his military is, you might say, significantly underperforming,” according to the Associated Press.
Last month, Putin raised concerns in the West when he vowed to defend the “territorial integrity of our motherland” by “all the means at our disposal” — remarks that were widely interpreted as a nuclear threat.
But Macron’s remarks indicate he may think both Biden and Putin are overstating the threat.
Prime Minister Sanna Marin of Finland also seemed to rebuke Biden over him saying Putin needed an “off ramp.”
“The way out of this conflict is for Russia to leave Ukraine,” she said when asked about Biden’s comments. “That is the way out of the conflict.”
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The White House sought to ease concerns about the war escalating into a nuclear conflict when press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about it aboard Air Force One.
“We have not seen any reason to adjust our own strategic nuclear posture, nor do we have indication that Russia is preparing to imminently use nuclear weapons,” Jean-Pierre told reporters Friday.
