Biden denounces Putin’s nuclear threats as ‘reckless’ in UN address

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Joe Biden has denounced Vladimir Putin’s threats to use nuclear weapons as “reckless” and “irresponsible” and called Russia’s planned annexation of more regions of Ukraine as “an extremely significant violation” of the UN charter.

The US president was speaking to the UN general assembly after Putinannounced Russia’s first mobilisation since the second world war and warned that his country had “lots of weapons to reply” to what he claimed western threats on its territory.

In response, Biden sought to galvanise the outrage of UN member states at the threat which Putin’s actions and “imperial ambitions” posed to the founding values of the UN.

“This war is about extinguishing Ukraine’s right to exist as a state, plain and simple, and Ukraine’s right to exist as a people. Wherever you are, wherever you live, whatever you believe, that should make your blood run cold,” Biden said. “Because if nations can pursue their imperial ambitions without consequences, then we put at risk everything this very institution stands for.”

In his highly anticipated televised address earlier on Wednesday, Putin said the “partial mobilisation” was a direct response to the dangers posed by the west, which “wants to destroy our country”, and claimed the west had tried to “turn Ukraine’s people into cannon fodder”.

“Military service will apply only to citizens who are currently in the reserve, especially those who have served in the armed forces, have certain military professions and relevant experience,” he said.

Shortly after Putin’s announcement, the country’s defence ministry, Sergei Shoigu, said 300,000 Russians would be called up as part of the mobilisation that will apply to “those with previous military experience”.

The announcement triggered an exodus of Russian men racing to avoid the draft. Air tickets rose in price and were soon sold out.

Putin televised address to the nation came a day after Russian-controlled regions in eastern and southern Ukraine announced plans to hold “referendums” this weekend on becoming part of Russia. In his speech, Putin gave support to those ballots in the parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia under Russian control.

He also delivered barely veiled nuclear threats against Nato, saying: “I want to remind you that our country also has various means of destruction, and for separate components and more modern than those of Nato countries and when the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, to protect Russia and our people, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal.”

Putin added: “It’s not a bluff.”

The Russian leader and his senior officials have made a string of similar nuclear threats since launching the invasion in February, in an effort to deter Nato countries from intervening. But in his UN speech on Wednesday, Biden sought to make clear the US and its allies would not be deterred from supporting Ukraine’s fight to defend its territory.

“Russia has shamelessly violated the core tenets of the United Nations charter, none more important than the clear prohibition against countries taking the territory of their neighbor by force,” Biden said. “The Kremlin is organizing a sham referendum to try to annex parts of Ukraine, an extremely significant violation of the UN charter. This world should see these outrageous acts for what they are.

“Again, just today, President Putin has made overt nuclear threats against Europe and a reckless disregard for the responsibilities of the non proliferation regime,” he said, adding that such “irresponsible nuclear threats” directly contradicted Russia’s international responsibilities and its agreement with a joint statement by nuclear weapons powers at the beginning of this year that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought“.

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, slammed Russian plans to stage referendums in the occupied regions as a “noise” and thanked Ukraine’s allies for denouncing the votes.

“Putin’s announcement of a partial mobilisation is an act of desperation,” the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said on Twitter. “Russia cannot win this criminal war. Putin has underestimated the situation from the outset – including the will to resist of Ukraine and the resolve shown by its friends.”

The UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace said Putin’s announcement was “an admission that his invasion is failing” and that “Russia is becoming a global pariah”.

Nato’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said that there had been no perceived change in the deployment Russian nuclear forces.

“The most important thing is to prevent that from happening, and that’s reason why we have been so clear in our communications with Russia about the unprecedented consequences, about the fact that the nuclear war cannot be won by Russia,” Stoltenberg told Reuters.