Biden Says Putin Not 'Thinking Of Using Nuclear Weapons' In Ukraine: 'No Evidence Of That'

President Joe Biden said Vladimir Putin calling off participation in a nuclear arms treaty is not a signal of his Russian counterpart considering using nuclear weapons in Ukraine. 

What Happened: While Biden thinks “It’s a big mistake to do that. Not very responsible," he told ABC News in an interview, “I don’t read into that that he’s thinking of using nuclear weapons or anything like that."

In his state of the union address to the Russian parliament on Tuesday, Putin announced the suspension of the last remaining nuclear arms control agreement with Washington. The Russian leader said that Moscow should be prepared to restart nuclear weapons testing if the U.S. does so.

Biden does believe that the nuclear treaty decision makes the world less safe. “Well look, I think we’re less safe when we walk away from arms control agreements that are very much in both parties’ interests and in the world’s interest.”

See Also: Xi Jinping Planning To Meet Putin In April To Broker Peace Talks With Ukraine: WSJ

“The idea that somehow this means they’re thinking of using nuclear weapons, intercontinental ballistic missile, there’s no evidence of that,” Biden said.

Although Russia backed away from the New START arms control treaty, Moscow said it would stick to agreed limits on nuclear missiles and pass information to Washington about changes in its deployments despite the suspension.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday in Warsaw, Biden vowed that “we will defend every inch of NATO” to reassure allies on Europe’s eastern flank as the Ukraine war rages.

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