周四晚上，美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)对俄罗斯不断升级的核困境发出了严重警告，称俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京在谈到可能使用核武器时，“不是在开玩笑”。

在纽约市的一个资金筹集会上，拜登说，“自古巴导弹危机以来，我们第一次面临使用核武器的直接威胁，如果事实上事情继续沿着他们正在走的道路发展的话。这是一个不同的交易。”

“自肯尼迪和古巴导弹危机以来，我们还没有面临过世界末日的前景，”他说。“我不认为有能力轻易(使用)战术核武器而不导致世界末日。”

拜登说，普京的军队在乌克兰“表现不佳”，他可能感到威胁。

总统说，他“相当了解”普京，并“和他一起度过了相当长的时间”，并警告说，普京是认真的。

“当他谈到可能使用战术核武器、生物武器或化学武器时，他不是在开玩笑，因为你可能会说，他的军队表现明显不佳。”

“这关系到很多事情，”拜登说。“我们试图弄清楚什么是普京的下坡路?他在哪里下车?他在哪里找到出路?他在哪里发现自己处于一个他没有的位置——不仅丢了脸，而且在俄罗斯内部失去了重要的权力?”

普京最近实施了30万义务兵的部分动员，并进行所谓的“虚假”公投，以吞并乌克兰领土——这些举动被视为冲突的急剧升级。

随着这些举动，他警告说，他将使用“一切可用的手段”来保护他现在眼中的俄罗斯人民和领土。

美国国务卿安东尼·布林肯最近在联合国安理会的一次讲话中呼吁普京停止他的“鲁莽的核威胁”。

Biden warns Putin is 'not joking' about nuclear weapons

President Joe Biden issued a dire warning about the escalating nuclear dilemma in Russia Thursday night, saying the country's president, Vladimir Putin, is "not joking" when he talks about potentially using the weapons.

At a fundraiser in New York City, Biden said for the “first time since the Cuban missile crisis, we have the direct threat of the use of a nuclear weapon if in fact things continue down the path that they are going. That’s a different deal.”

“We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis,” he said. “I don't think there's any such thing as the ability to easily (use) a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon.”

Biden said Putin's military is "underperforming" in Ukraine and he may feel threatened.

The president said he knows Putin “fairly well” and has spent “a fair amount of time with him” and warned that Putin is serious.

“He is not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons, or biological, or chemical weapons because his military is, you might say, significantly underperforming.”

“There’s a lot at stake,” Biden said. “We are trying to figure out what is Putin’s off-ramp? Where does he get off? Where does he find a way out? Where does he find himself in a position that he does not - not only lose face but lose significant power within Russia?”

Putin recently implemented a partial mobilization of 300,000 conscripts and has undertaken what has been called "sham" referenda to annex Ukrainian territory -- moves seen as a dramatic escalation in the conflict.

And with those moves, he warned he will use"all available means"to protect what he now sees as Russian people and territory.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently called for Putin to stop his "reckless nuclear threats" during an address to the U.N. Security Council.