On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to order his nuclear deterrent forces to be on high alert. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the decision by Putin was him "manufacturing threats that don't exist."
Psaki shared her comments on Putin's latest move with ABC News' "This Week." On the program, she also discussed the Russian president's constant pattern for such actions.
"This is really a pattern that we've seen from President Putin through the course of this conflict, which is manufacturing threats that don't exist in order to justify further aggression," Psaki said.
Putin made his announcement on Sunday during a broadcasted meeting with his top military officials, giving vague reasoning behind putting his nuclear arsenal on high alert.
"Top officials in leading NATO countries have allowed themselves to make aggressive comments about our country, therefore I hereby order the Minister of Defense and the chief of the General Staff to place the Russian Army Deterrence Force on combat alert," Putin said, CNN reported.
However, the world has seen this before, and Psaki pointed to this while speaking with ABC News.
"We've seen him do this time and time again," Psaki said. "At no point has Russia been under threat from NATO, has Russia been under threat from Ukraine. This is all a pattern from President Putin."
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Russia has been heavily sanctioned since it began its invasion of Ukraine four days ago. The sanctions were threatened against the nation for weeks in an effort to deescalate the situation, but now they are no longer threats.
Psaki was asked about Putin's mental status, with many claiming that there is something off with the Russian leader.
"I'm not going to make an assessment of his mental stability," Psaki said. "But I will tell you, certainly, the rhetoric, the actions, the justification that he's making for his actions are certainly deeply concerning to us."
As for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his safety, Psaki did not specify what she knew, but she did praise him for his leadership throughout the invasion.
"He has been in close touch," Psaki said. "While not getting into his security -- the security of President Zelenskyy -- I'm just going to note… as the American people have seen and tuned in to, he is standing up courageously against the invasion of President Putin and Russian leadership, leading his country and continuing to."
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