U.S. Has Warned Russia Over Nuclear War Rhetoric, Antony Blinken Says

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said U.S. officials have warned Russian counterparts publicly and privately to "stop the loose talk" about nuclear war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been accused of nuclear saber-rattling by Western leaders after saying in a pre-recorded address on September 21: "If Russia feels its territorial integrity is threatened, we will use all defense methods at our disposal, and this is not a bluff."

"Those who are trying to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the winds can also turn in their direction," Putin said, claiming – without evidence – that high-ranking representatives of NATO countries had raised the possibility of using such weapons against Russia.

In the same speech, he announced the mobilization of another 300,000 reservists to be sent to the frontline amid a series of setbacks for the Russian army in Ukraine.

Conversation about the war and the potential nuclear threat dominated last week's annual gathering of the UN General Assembly in New York. The summit saw the convergence of more than 120 world leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden.

"We've heard a lot of irresponsible rhetoric coming out of Vladimir Putin, but we're focused on making sure that we're all acting responsibly, especially when it comes to this kind of loose rhetoric. We've been very clear with the Russians publicly as well as privately, to stop the loose talk about nuclear weapons," Blinken told CBS's "60 Minutes."

He confirmed that privately that U.S. officials have been in communication with the Kremlin about the nuclear war threats.

"It's very important that Moscow hear from us and know from us that the consequences would be horrific and we've made that very clear. Vladimir Putin has a clear way out of the war he started, and that's to end it. If Russia stops fighting the war ends. If Ukraine stops fighting Ukraine ends."

Asked if there was anyone in the Kremlin that could tell Vladimir Putin "no," if he decides to launch a battlefield nuclear weapon, Blinken said: "They have a chain of command. Whether it works or not, to be seen. I think what you're pointing to is a larger challenge. And that is the Achilles heel of autocracies everywhere – there is usually not anyone who has the capacity or the will to speak truth to power and part of the reason I think is that Russia has got itself into the mess it's in, is because there is no one in the system to effectively tell Putin he's doing the wrong thing."

Last week, Joe Biden said in an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes" that if Russia resorted to nuclear weapons it would spur a "consequential" U.S. response.

Pressed on what he meant by that, Blinken didn't elaborate.

"I'm not going to get into what the consequence would be. Any use of nuclear weapons would of course have catastrophic effects for the country using them but for many others as well."

He said that the Biden administration had a plan.

"President Biden's been determined that as we're doing everything we can to help the Ukrainians defends themselves, as we're doing everything we can to rally other countries to put pressure on Russia. We also determined that this war not expand, not get broader."

Newsweek has contacted the Russian foreign ministry for comment.

On September 23, a former prime minister of Russia, Mikhail Kasyanov, who served as Putin's head of government between 2000 and 2004, told Newsweek that Putin was likely bluffing about using nuclear weapons.

Correction 9/26/22, 1:35 p.m. ET: This article was updated to correct the spelling of Antony Blinken.