Listen to the article below
some text for space
A
t a Democratic Party fundraising event in New York on Thursday night, President Joe Biden said that the world risks nuclear “Armageddon” for the first time since the Cold War and that he is trying to find Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “off-ramp.”
“We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis” in 1962, Biden said at the event.
Putin is “not joking” when he threatens to use nuclear weapons, he added, and “we are trying to figure out what is Putin’s off-ramp. Where does he find a way out?”
In a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday, Biden pledged a $625 million more in security assistance to Ukraine. This brings the total of military aid alone to $17.5 billion.
“Pursuant to a delegation of authority from the President, I am authorizing our twenty-second drawdown of U.S. arms and equipment for Ukraine since August 2021.,” Biden announced. “This $625 million drawdown includes additional arms, munitions, and equipment from U.S. Department of Defense inventories. This drawdown will bring the total U.S. military assistance for Ukraine to more than $17.5 billion since the beginning of this Administration.”
“We will continue to stand with the people of Ukraine as they defend their freedom and independence with extraordinary courage and boundless determination,” Biden added. ” The capabilities we are delivering are carefully calibrated to make the most difference on the battlefield and strengthen Ukraine’s hand at the negotiating table when the time is right.”
