Sharjah 24 – AFP: President Joe Biden said Friday the United States and NATO will not be intimidated by Russia's President Vladimir Putin and warned that the Western alliance would defend "every inch" of its territory if attacked.

"America and its allies are not going to be intimidated," he said in remarks at the White House. Putin is "not going to scare us."

Biden then addressed the Kremlin leader directly, pointing his finger into the television camera as he warned against any attack spilling beyond Ukraine onto NATO territory.

"America's fully prepared, with our NATO allies, to defend every single inch of NATO territory," he said. "Mr. Putin, don't misunderstand what I'm saying: every inch."

Biden was speaking shortly after Putin presided over a ceremony in Moscow to declare that Russia has annexed four more regions of Ukraine, although Western-armed Ukrainian troops continue to battle to restore control there.

Putin and multiple supporters have suggested that having declared the swath of Ukraine to belong to Russia, the Kremlin could now legitimately resort to nuclear weapons to defend what it says is Russian territory.

Biden called out his Russian counterpart's "reckless words and threats" but dismissed Friday's ceremony as a "sham routine that he put on" to show strength, while instead demonstrating that "he's struggling."