Vladimir Putin Issues Nuclear Threats, President Biden Says Nobody Threatens Russia

President Joe Biden at the UN General Assembly. (Twitter/@POTUS)

JAKARTA - US President Joe Biden has accused Russia of making "reckless" and "irresponsible" threats to use nuclear weapons, saying Moscow had violated a core principle of UN membership by attacking Ukraine.

Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, President Biden criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin for starting the war for no reason, with some 40 UN members helping Ukraine fight through funding and weapons.

Earlier on Wednesday, President Putin ordered the mobilization of Russia to fight in Ukraine, making veiled threats to use nuclear weapons.

"Once again, just today, President Putin has made an open nuclear threat to Europe, ignoring the responsibilities of the nonproliferation regime," President Biden said.

"Nuclear wars cannot be won and must not be fought," he stressed.

Furthermore, President Biden said nothing threatened Russia, despite his claims to the contrary, that only Russia seeks conflict.

He used UN arrangements to underscore his view that Moscow had violated the agency's values.

"A permanent member of the United Nations Security Council is storming its neighbor, seeking to wipe a sovereign nation off the map. Russia shamelessly violates the core principles of the United Nations Charter," President Biden criticized.

"This war is about extinguishing Ukraine's right to live as a state, simple, and Ukraine's right to live as a people," he explained.

Separately, Russia's mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment on President Biden's remarks. While Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was in New York for the UN meeting, a Russian deputy ambassador to the UN was in the room as President Biden spoke.

President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's first mobilization since World War Two in an early morning televised address, saying additional manpower was needed to win the war not only against Ukraine, but also its Western backers.