Biden’s ‘Armageddon’ talk edges beyond bounds of US intelligence

President Joe Biden (Julio Cortez/AP/PA)

US President Joe Biden’s warning that the world is at risk of a nuclear “Armageddon” was designed to send an unvarnished message that no one should underestimate the extraordinary danger if Russia deploys tactical nuclear weapons in its war against Ukraine, administration officials said.

The president’s grim assessment, delivered during a Democratic fundraiser on Thursday night, rippled around the globe and appeared to edge beyond the boundaries of current US intelligence assessments.