Russia-Ukraine updates: Putin suspends key US-Russia nuclear treaty in speech denouncing West

After President Joe Biden made comments suggesting Russia may use nuclear weapons, the White House says there is no new information to suggest an imminent threat.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden's comments have been "very consistent" and he was reinforcing how seriously the U.S. takes Russia's threats about using nuclear weapons.

"Russia's nuclear rhetoric has been reckless and irresponsible. But if the Cuban missile crisis has taught us anything, it is the value of reducing nuclear risk and not brandishing that," she said speaking to reporters Friday.

Jean-Pierre also called Putin's comments irresponsible as a leader of a nuclear power.

"We won't be intimidated by Putin’s rhetoric, we have not seen any reason to adjust our own nuclear posture, nor do we have indications they are prepared to use them but Putin can de-escalate this at any time, and there is no reason to escalate," Jean-Pierre said.

-ABC News' Sarah Kolinovsky

Traditional Christmas and New Year celebrations in Saint Petersburg, Russia will be canceled and all previously allocated money for the festivities will be channeled to finance volunteers and mobilized troops involved in the war with Ukraine, according to TASS, a Russian news agency, which cited a statement from the municipal authorities.

All the available funds will be channeled into a special account to pay for gear for volunteers and mobilized citizens, according to TASS.

"During a session with Governor Alexander Beglov with members of the municipal administration it was decided to cancel previously scheduled events dedicated to New Year festivities," the statement said, according to TASS.

-ABC News' Natalia Shumskaia

A top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has criticized the Nobel Peace Prize for its decision to award Russian and Belarusian human rights defenders alongside Ukraine’s, reflecting a widespread sentiment in Ukraine that it has been unwillingly lumped in with two countries engaged in attacking it.

"Nobel Committee has an interesting understanding of word "peace" if representatives of two countries that attacked a third one receive @NobelPrize together. Neither Russian nor Belarusian organizations were able to organize resistance to the war. This year's Nobel is 'awesome',"Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Zelenskyy, wrote on Twitter.

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell

President Joe Biden made some of his most clear and striking assessments on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threats of using a nuclear weapon.

For the "first time since the Cuban missile crisis, we have the direct threat of the use of a nuclear weapon if in fact things continue down the path that they are going. That’s a different deal," he said at a fundraiser in New York City on Thursday.

"We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis," he said. "I don't think there's any such thing as the ability to easily [use] a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon."

Biden said Putin's military is "underperforming" in Ukraine and he may feel threatened.

Biden said he knows Putin "fairly well" and has spent "a fair amount of time with him" and warned that Putin is serious.

"He is not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons, or biological, or chemical weapons because his military is, you might say, significantly underperforming," Biden said.

"There’s a lot at stake," Biden said. "We are trying to figure out what is Putin’s off ramp? Where does he get off? Where does he find a way out? Where does he find himself in a position that he does not - not only lose face but lose significant power within Russia?"

-ABC News' Justin Gomez