NEW DELHI: President Joe Biden said Thursday that the risk of nuclear “Armageddon” is at the highest level since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, as Russian officials speak of the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons after suffering massive setbacks in the eight-month invasion of Ukraine.

 "We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis," Biden said in New York City. At a fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Biden said Putin is "not joking when he talks about the use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons." This is because, Biden said, "his military is -- you might say -- significantly underperforming," I`m trying to figure out, what is Putin`s off-ramp?" Biden said.

"Where does he find a way out? Where does he find himself in a position that he does not only lose face but lose significant power within Russia?"According to a pool report, Biden told attendees at the event, "I don`t think there is any such a thing as the ability to easily use a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon."

Putin has made thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons if he feels he has run out of options in his bid to seize swaths of Ukrainian territory in the face of stiff resistance by Western-back Kyiv.

US officials for months have warned of the prospect that Russia could use weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine as it has faced a series of strategic setbacks on the battlefield as recently as this week. Though, they have said they have seen no change to Russia’s nuclear forces that would require a change in the alert posture of US nuclear forces.