Biden: Putin told me he was afraid of US nuclear strike from Ukraine

U.S. President Joe Biden recalled his conversation with Vladimir Putin, in which the Russian dictator expressed concern about cooperation between Kyiv and Washington, especially about the issue of nuclear weapons during an interview with MSNBC.

Putin inquired whether the Americans had transferred nuclear arms to the Ukrainians.

Biden was asked if he had spoken with Putin about his nuclear threats at the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine.

"Well, I did. When he started talking about tactical, I thought this guy wants to use tactical nuclear weapons. Tactical nuclear weapons in Europe scared the hell out of everybody, including the Russians. He said to me that what he wanted was to make sure that there were no nuclear weapons in Europe, I mean in Ukraine," the American leader said.

Biden recounted one of their conversations, where Putin began by saying, "I know you can take me out tomorrow from Ukraine. You can strike Moscow."

"To which I said, that's not a problem, we've already taken the nuclear weapons out [in Ukraine]," said Biden.

Biden also assured Putin that Ukraine could not become part of NATO "until they change their system significantly."

• On November 20, 2024, the Pentagon stated that it saw no signs of Russia's readiness to use nuclear weapons.
• On November 22, the U.S. announced it was prepared to change its nuclear deterrence strategy in light of the "increased nuclear potential" of China and Russia.