WASHINGTON, July 13. /TASS/. US President Joe Biden on Thursday downplayed the chances that Russia will use nuclear weapons in connection with the crisis around Ukraine.

"I don’t think there’s any real prospect - you never know but - of Putin using nuclear weapons. Not only has the West, but China and the rest of the world have said - don’t go there," he said at a joint news conference with his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto in Helsinki, in comments broadcast on the White House website.

The Finnish capital was the final stop on Biden’s European tour, which also took him to Vilnius and London. In Vilnius, the US president took part in a NATO summit.

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier stated that Western countries responded to the Russian special operation by starting "nuclear blackmail," encouraging Kiev's shelling of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and declaring that the use of nuclear weapons was permissible. The president said that the Russian Federation is ready to use all available means to defend its territorial integrity and people.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Western leaders engage in nuclear rhetoric on a daily basis and stated that Russia does not want to take part in this narrative. Peskov also said that Moscow could use nuclear weapons only in accordance with the provisions of its nuclear doctrine.