“We’ve acquired a man I do know pretty properly,” the president mentioned of Putin, in prolonged remarks concerning the battle. “He’s not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or organic or chemical weapons, as a result of his army is, you may say, considerably underperforming,” Biden continued, opening a window into how a lot it has been weighing on him only a month earlier than the midterm elections and amid a spate of home campaigning and fundraising.

He additionally spoke to the fragile — and, in some sense, seemingly unattainable — process of managing the disaster from afar whereas “making an attempt to determine, what’s Putin’s off-ramp? … The place does he discover a manner out?”

A key query earlier than U.S. officers and their Western allies, Biden added, is the place Putin finds himself if he loses not solely face but in addition important energy.

“We’ve got the specter of a nuclear weapon if, in truth, issues proceed down the trail they’re going,” he reiterated.