US President Joe Biden said in an interview with ABC television that he does not see Vladimir Putin’s decision to temporarily suspend Russia’s participation in the New START treaty as a sign that the Kremlin strongman is considering using nuclear weapons if and called it a “big mistake”.

“It’s a big mistake to do that. Not very responsible. But I don’t take that as an indication that he’s thinking about using nuclear weapons,” the US president told reporter David Muir.

The same characterization (s.b. “big mistake”) was used yesterday Wednesday by the US president during the meeting he had with the leaders of the “Bucharest Nine” (nine Eastern European countries that are members of NATO) in Warsaw. He reiterated that he would defend “every inch of NATO territory”, trying to reassure the NATO allies in the eastern wing after the development.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Tuesday the suspension of his country’s participation in the New START treaty with the US to limit nuclear weapons. The treaty provides for a cap on the number of nuclear weapons each country develops, as well as inspections of nuclear facilities.