Ukraine crisis: Joe Biden says Americans shouldn’t worry about nuclear war after Vladimir Putin’s order

Name: Russian military claims Chernobyl nuclear plant under joint protection with Ukrainian forces
Uploaded: 2022-02-28T23:45:19.000Z
Duration: 1 min 57 s
Description: Russian military claims Chernobyl nuclear plant under joint protection with Ukrainian forces

The US sees no reason to change its nuclear alert levels at this time, despite the Russian president putting his nuclear missile forces on enhanced combat duty

The White House also pointed out Moscow has signed on to joint statements affirming a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought

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Russian ICBM missile launchers take part in the Victory Day military parade at Red Square in Moscow in May 2016. Photo: AP

Reuters

Published: 7:45am, 1 Mar 2022Updated: 1:14pm, 9 Mar 2022

US President Joe Biden said on Monday Americans should not worry about a nuclear war after Moscow put its nuclear deterrent on high alert amid a barrage of Western reprisals over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In response to a question about whether US citizens should be concerned about a nuclear war breaking out, Biden said “no”. He was responding to a shouted question at the end of an event at the White House.

White House officials said earlier in the day the United States sees no reason to change its nuclear alert levels at this time, a point press secretary Jen Psaki reiterated during her briefing with reporters.

“We are assessing President Putin’s directive and at this time, we see no reasons to change our own alert levels,” Psaki said.

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Russian military claims Chernobyl nuclear plant under joint protection with Ukrainian forces

Russia’s defence ministry said on Monday its nuclear missile forces and Northern and Pacific fleets had been placed on enhanced combat duty, the Interfax news agency reported, in line with an order the previous day from President Vladimir Putin.