MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday responded to his US counterpart Joe Biden’s rude comment about him.
Biden recently called Putin a “crazy SOB”. Putin responded to Biden’s comment with an ironic smile and said the remark showed why the Kremlin felt Biden was a preferable future US president to Donald Trump.
Biden made the “crazy SOB” remark as part of a sentence about threats to the world – including “that guy Putin and others,” the risk of nuclear conflict and the existential threat to humanity from climate change.
When asked by Russian state television about Biden’s “crude” remark, Putin smiled sarcastically and bit his lip before looking at the ground.
He told the state television with a smile, “We are ready to work with any president. But I believe that for us, Biden is a more preferable president for Russia, and judging by what he has just said, I am absolutely right.”
The 71-year-old Russian president said that his previous comments saying that Biden, 81, was Russia’s preferred candidate had triggered Biden’s “adequate reaction”.
“It’s not like he can say to me, ‘Volodya, thank you, well done, you’ve helped me a lot’,” Putin said. “You asked me which is better for us. I said it then that, and I still think I can repeat it: Biden.”
Russia’s ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, said his embassy had sent the U.S. State Department “a strong note of protest about the outrageous nature and unacceptability” of Biden’s comments.
Antonov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said Moscow was not anticipating an “appropriate reaction. As the November U.S. election approaches such escapades will become routine.”
For Putin, the remarks show the difficulty of navigating the upcoming U.S. presidential election which is likely to bring to power either Biden, who has publicly insulted Putin, or Trump, 77, who has promised to end the war in Ukraine swiftly.
