BREAKING: Biden says Americans should not be concerned about nuclear war

After giving a speech in honor of Black History Month on Monday, President Biden answered a question on the likelihood of nuclear war while leaving the East Room.

Wearing masks, and with his wife First Lady Jill Biden on his arm, Biden was asked "Mr. President, should Americans be worried about nuclear war?"

"No," the President replied while exiting.

Biden was asked a similar question this morning as he crossed the White House lawn after stepping off of the Marine 1 helicopter. Reporters shouted across the lawn at him.

"Mr. President, is Ukraine winning the war?"

"Mr. President, do you believe Putin would use a nuclear weapon?"

"Mr. President, are you worried about nuclear war?"

Biden didn't answer any of these, or acknowledge that he heard the questions over the sounds of the spinning blades.

These questions come as Russia has invaded the neighboring nation of Ukraine. Russia is one of few nations globally to hold nuclear weapons, and there have been concerns that Russian aggression could spill into Europe and cause a larger scale conflagration across the continent, and the world.

Speaking to the question of nuclear confrontation, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that concerns that nuclear war is imminent are overblown.

"Throughout the crisis, Russia and President Putin have falsely alleged that it is under threat, including from Ukraine, including from NATO. Now the United States nor NATO has any desire or intention for conflict with Russia," Psaki said, "and we think provocative rhetoric like this regarding nuclear weapons is dangerous, as to the risk of miscalculation should be avoided and we will not indulge in it. We are assessing Putin Directive and at this time, we see no reason to change our own alert levels," she said.

"But it's also important to remember that even over the course of the last several months and years when we have had significant disagreements with Russia over a range of issues, Russia and the United States have long agreed that nuclear use would have devastating consequences," Psaki said.

"And have stated many times, including earlier this year, that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. So we have not had seen reason to change our alert levels. And we are seeing obvious, significant danger in escalatory rhetoric."

She stressed that financial sanctions are the best way forward to curb Russian aggression, and that sanctions on the energy sector in Russia remain "on the table," though they have not yet been implemented. This is because of the heavy impact that energy sector sanctions would have on European citizens.