白宫认为，由于弗拉基米尔·普京在乌克兰的斗争以及他提到他的核武库，与俄罗斯的“利害关系现在非常大”，但是乔·拜登总统警告可能的“世界末日”拜登的一位高级发言人周日表示，这不是迫在眉睫的威胁。
白宫国家安全委员会(White House National Security Council)发言人约翰·柯比(John Kirby)表示:“这些评论不是基于新的或新的情报，也不是基于普京决定使用核武器的新迹象，坦率地说，我们没有任何迹象表明他做出了这种决定。”告诉美国广播公司“本周”联合主持人玛莎·拉达茨。
柯比说:“我们也没有看到任何事情会让我们停下来重新考虑我们自己的战略核态势，努力捍卫我们自己的国家安全利益以及我们的盟友和伙伴的利益。”他引用了总统的承诺，“我们和我们的盟友都不会被这一点吓倒。”
在柯比的评论之前，拜登在周四的一次资金筹集会上发表了异常严厉的言论。
拜登当时表示，俄罗斯总统普京“在谈到使用战术核武器或生物或化学武器时，不是在开玩笑”，而且“自肯尼迪和20世纪60年代古巴导弹危机以来，我们还没有面临过世界末日的前景”。
上周，白宫一再被问及拜登的警告是否标志着政府对普京行为的评估发生了一些变化，柯比在“本周”节目中否认了这一点。
National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House, Sept. 13, 2022 in Washington, D.C.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images，文件
柯比说:“我们正在尽最大努力对此进行监控，坦率地说，自从他今年2月入侵乌克兰以来，我们一直在监控他的核能力。”。
Raddatz问美国认为普京在这场战争中的“出路”是什么，最近几周，他的部队在乌克兰东部和南部地区节节败退。周六，一场爆炸还部分摧毁了一座桥梁，这座桥梁是从俄罗斯到克里米亚的关键补给线，克里米亚是俄罗斯在2014年从乌克兰吞并的有争议的半岛。
“普京先生开始了这场战争，普京先生今天就可以结束这场战争，只需将他的军队撤出该国，”柯比说，并补充说，“我们都希望看到这场战争结束。...需要发生的是双方能够坐下来谈判，通过和平和外交手段找到解决办法。”
但是，到目前为止，“普京先生没有表现出任何迹象——零，没有——他愿意这样做，”柯比说。因此，他说，政府仍然致力于通过武器和其他军事援助支持乌克兰，从而间接卷入战争。
在乌克兰方面，总统弗拉基米尔·泽伦斯基(Volodymyr Zelenskyy)已经排除了与普京特别是俄罗斯进行谈判的可能性，并于周二签署了一项法令，正式确定了这一立场。
拉达茨还就白宫与朝鲜领导人金正恩的接触向柯比施压，谁在最近几天发射了一连串的弹道导弹包括日本在内的日本上空，在日本和韩国拉响了警报。
“我已经看到这种情况几十年了，同样的事情发生在许多总统身上:你回应，你演习，他继续开火，”拉达茨说。
“你有什么不同?”她追问。
柯比指出了美国、日本和韩国之间的情报收集和“军事准备状态”:“我们将确保我们有能力在必要时捍卫我们的国家安全利益。”
但与金正日政权的直接对话仍是目标，他表示:“我们希望看到朝鲜半岛实现可验证的、完全的无核化...我们愿意在没有先决条件的情况下，与他们坐在谈判桌前，为实现这一目标而努力。”
Biden's warning of nuclear 'Armageddon' reflects the 'stakes' with Russia, not an imminent threat: Kirby
The White House believes "the stakes are very high right now" with Russia amid Vladimir Putin's struggles in Ukraine and his references to his nuclear arsenal, but President Joe Biden'swarning of possible "Armageddon"wasn't about an imminent threat, a top Biden spokesperson said Sunday.
"These comments were not based on new or fresh intelligence or new indications that Mr. Putin has made a decision to use nuclear weapons and, quite frankly, we don't have any indication that he has made that kind of decision," John Kirby, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council,told ABC "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz.
"Nor have we seen anything that would give us pause to reconsider our own strategic nuclear posture in our efforts to defend our own national security interests and those of our allies and partners," Kirby said, citing the president's promise that "neither we nor our allies are going to be intimidated by this."
Kirby's comments come after Biden's unusually stark remarks at a fundraiser on Thursday.
Biden said then that Putin, the Russian president, was "not joking when he talks about the use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons" and that "we have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis" in the 1960s.
The White House was pressed repeatedly last week over whether Biden's warning marked some shift in the administration's assessment of Putin's behavior, which Kirby denied on "This Week."
"We are monitoring this as best we can, and we have been monitoring his nuclear capabilities, frankly, since he invaded Ukraine back in February," Kirby said.
Raddatz asked what the U.S. saw as Putin's "way out" of this war, where his forces have been losing ground in recent weeks in Ukraine's eastern and southern regions. On Saturday, an explosion also partially collapsed a bridge serving as a crucial supply link from Russia to Crimea, the disputed peninsula Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
"Mr. Putin started this war and Mr. Putin could end it today, simply by moving his troops out of the country," Kirby said, adding, "We all want to see this war end. ... And what needs to happen is for the two sides to be able to sit down and negotiate and find a way out of this peacefully and diplomatically."
But, so far, "Mr. Putin has shown no indications -- zero, none -- that he's willing to do that," Kirby said. And so, he said, the administration remained committed to indirect involvement in the war by supporting Ukraine via weapons and other military aid.
On the Ukrainian side, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has ruled out negotiating with Putin specifically -- not Russia -- and signed a decree formalizing that position on Tuesday.
Raddatz also pressed Kirby on the White House's approach to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un,who launched a barrage of ballistic missiles in recent days, including over Japan, raising alarms there and in South Korea.
"I’ve seen this for decades and decades, the same thing happens through many presidents: You respond, you do drills, he keeps firing," Raddatz said.
"What are you doing differently?" she pressed.
Kirby pointed to intelligence gathering and "military readiness" between the U.S., Japan and South Korea: "We're going to make sure that we have the capabilities in place to defend our national security interests if it comes to that."
But direct talks with Kim's regime remained the goal, he said: "We want to see the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, verifiable and complete ... We are willing to sit down with them without preconditions at the negotiating table to work toward that end."
