Dead end
In an interview with TV channel ABC, which caused widespread stir in Russia and elsewhere in the world, Biden said that the Kremlin’s host would “pay” for his abuses. Also, in response to a question from the journalist, the US leader agreed that Putin was a murderer.
The interview deeply angered Russia, with its Foreign Ministry recalling its ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, on Wednesday.
“The most important thing for us is to identify ways to improve Russia-US relations, which have been severely affected by the fact that Washington has actually brought them to a standstill,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zaharova said in an official statement.
Russian politicians have been more direct. Andrei Turchak, vice-chairman of the Federation Council, said Biden’s statements were “a triumph of US political marasma and dementia of their leader.” According to him, this is a challenge for Russia. “Such statements are unacceptable, they offend Russian citizens who have made their choice and support their president,” commented Vyacheslav Volodin, Speaker of the State Duma. Many Russian politicians have expressed a similar view.
Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov called the US action a “diplomatic hog” with no historical precedent.
Russian social media users have also expressed anger, accusing Americans of inciting hatred and saying that Biden has become “demented”. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media on Thursday that he would not be “talkative”, commenting on the “very bad statements of the US president”. “He obviously does not want to improve relations with our country. We will also take this assumption into account in the future, ” Perskov said.
Putin himself was laconic. ” What can I answer him? I can tell him, “Be healthy!” “I wish him well,” the president said, perhaps echoing the cognitive health of the U.S. leader.
Thoughts RAND Corporation expert William Courtney, who represented the United States in negotiations with the USSR Voice of America acknowledged that US leaders really rarely call the leaders of other major powers publicly murderers. Historian Sergei Radchenko’s opinion in an article on the portal The Moscow Times what is happening now is compared to the end of the 1970s, when relations between the two superpowers also came under dangerous tension. Even now, experts believe that relations between the two countries have reached the “lowest point” since the end of the Cold War.
Prepare sanctions
“He will not be reluctant in direct communication with Russia. And he will not be reluctant in public, “White House spokeswoman Jena Psaki told the media, adding that the new administration will continue to be” “direct” on issues that concern it. The State Department, for its part, has indicated that it does not intend to sever all ties with Russia and will continue to co-operate on issues important to both countries, such as nuclear arms control and climate change mitigation. Bloomberg The report said on Thursday that the two countries have also maintained a common position on the issue of peace in Afghanistan.
It should be noted that shortly before Biden’s comments, the White House released a report from intelligence on Russia’s efforts to spread defamatory information about the US leader and his family in cyberspace.
It is concluded that the Kremlin, similarly to 2016, also tried to interfere in the American presidential election in 2020 by spreading disinformation.
Financial Times reports that the US is preparing sanctions, but does not plan to recall its ambassador.
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