U.S. President Joe Biden in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, U.S.
JIM WATSON / POOL / AFPU.S. President Joe Biden in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, U.S.

The statement comes shortly after Moscow deployed its nuclear warheads in neighboring Belarus

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Monday the threat of Russian President Vladimir Putin using tactical nuclear weapons is “real.” 

The statement comes shortly after Moscow deployed its nuclear warheads in neighboring Belarus. The White House criticized the move as “absolutely irresponsible.” 

"When I was out here about two years ago saying I worried about the Colorado river drying up, everybody looked at me like I was crazy," Biden told a group of donors in California, according to Reuters. 

"They looked at me like when I said I worry about Putin using tactical nuclear weapons. It's real," the president continued.

Last week, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said his country began taking deliveries of Russian tactical nuclear weapons, some of which he noted were three times more powerful than the atomic bombs that the United States dropped on Japan in 1945.

Earlier in May, Russia brushed off Biden's criticism of its plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, saying the U.S. had for decades deployed such nuclear weapons in Europe. Putin has previously threatened the West with possible 'preemptive strike' amid the ongoing Ukraine war. 

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