After Russian President Vladimir Putin put his country's nuclear deterrent on high alert Sunday, President Joe Biden said Americans should not be worried about nuclear war.
According to the Daily Mail, on Monday, a White House reporter asked the president, "should Americans be worried about nuclear war?"
"No," Biden responded.
Later, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the White House sees "no reason" to change its nuclear posture.
"We think provocative rhetoric like this is dangerous; [adding] to the risk of miscalculation, should be avoided, and we'll not indulge in it," she said after Putin announced "aggressive comments" from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) led him to increase nuclear defenses.
"We are," she continued, "assessing President Putin's directive, and at this time we see no reason to change our own alert levels."
Additionally, the Associated Press reported one unnamed senior U.S. defense official said Putin is "potentially putting in play forces that, if there's a miscalculation, could make things much, much more dangerous."
Meanwhile, a U.S. government emergency disaster website, ready.gov, issued an update Friday. In one section, it warns Americans to practice social distancing and to wear masks in the event of a nuclear episode.
A section of the website reads to "stay inside for 24 hours unless local authorities provide other instructions. Continue to practice social distancing by wearing a mask and by keeping a distance of at least six feet between yourself and people who are not [a part] of your household."
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