WASHINGTON, October 7. /TASS/. US President Joe Biden said that for the first time since the Cuban missile crisis, the world is facing a direct threat from the use of nuclear weapons, provided that the situation continues to develop as it is developing at the moment. The words of the US President, who spoke at an event of the Democratic Party on Thursday, are quoted by the White House press corps.

"First time since the Cuban missile crisis, we have a direct threat of the use nuclear weapon if in fact things continue down the path they are going," Biden said.

The US President also said that he knows the Russian leader "fairly well" and that is why he thinks that Putin "is not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons."

Biden noted that he does not think "there's any such thing as the ability to easily (use) a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon."

On September 21, in his address at the 77th session of the UN General Assembly Biden said Moscow made "overt nuclear threats against Europe" and displayed "a reckless disregard for the responsibilities of the non-proliferation regime."

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova hit out at Biden’s address saying that he attributed remarks to the Russian President that our country was threatening the world with nuclear weapons.

On September 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his televised address that Washington is pushing Kiev towards moving military actions to Russian territory, with nuclear blackmail coming into play.

He noted that the issue is not only about the shelling of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, which risks a nuclear catastrophe, but also about statements made by certain high-ranking representatives of leading NATO states on the possibility and acceptability of using weapons of mass destruction, namely nuclear weapons against Russia.

"I would like to remind those resorting to such statements against Russia that our country also has various weapons of destruction, and some [of our] components are even more up-to-date than NATO member countries. And when the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will obviously use all the means we have at our disposal to protect Russia and our people," he warned.

"This is not a bluff. Russian citizens can be confident that the territorial integrity of our homeland, and our independence and freedom will be ensured. And let me emphasize once again, we have all the means at our disposal," he concluded.