Biden: Putin 'miscalculated significantly' on Ukraine invasion

President Biden said Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin “miscalculated significantly” in deciding to invade Ukraine.

Biden made his assessment during an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, who asked the president whether he considered Putin to be a “rational actor.”

“I think he is a rational actor who has miscalculated significantly,” Biden replied.

Last week, however, Biden made headlines when he remarked at a Democratic fundraiser that he did not think Putin was “joking when he talks about the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons, or biological and chemical weapons” in the conflict in Ukraine.

Biden told guests at the home of James Murdoch, the son of Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch, that the Russian army was “significantly underperforming” in Ukraine, and that the rest of the world should take Putin’s nuclear threats seriously. The “prospect of Armageddon,” Biden said, had not been greater since the Cuban missile crisis.

Putin, Biden told Tapper on Tuesday, had pursued an “irrational” approach to Ukraine. Biden cited Putin’s rhetoric as he announced the decision to mobilize hundreds of thousands of additional Russian men to fight in his war.

“If you listen to the speech he made after, when that decision was being made, he talked about the whole idea of he was needed to be leader of Russia who united all the Russian speakers, I mean, I just think it’s irrational.”

But Biden also reiterated his view that, despite his actions, Putin remained a leader who might be persuaded to engage in diplomacy.

“I didn't say he’s not rational. I think the speech, his objectives were not,” Biden told Tapper, adding, “I think he thought he was going to be welcomed with open arms. That this was the home of Mother Russia in Kyiv and therefore he was going to be welcomed. I think he just totally miscalculated.”

Following two weeks of significant gains by the Ukrainian army in the contested eastern and southern sections of the country, Russia launched airstrikes Monday against cities across Ukraine that left at least 19 civilians dead.

“A massive strike of high-precision, long-range weapons has been delivered from air, land and sea on Ukraine’s energy facilities, military command and communications,” Putin said of the attacks in a Monday speech.

The United Nations along with the U.S. and other members of the G-7 forum all condemned the strikes. In a statement released on Monday, Biden once again said Putin should be punished for war crimes.

“We will continue to impose costs on Russia for its aggression, hold Putin and Russia accountable for its atrocities and war crimes, and provide the support necessary for Ukrainian forces to defend their country and their freedom,” Biden said in his statement.