Biden declined to elaborate on the consequences that Putin would face, saying “you will see soon”. But he said the United States can “walk and chew gum at the same time” when it comes to Russian foreign policy.
“There are places where it is in our mutual interest to work together,” said Biden, pointing specifically to the extension of the new nuclear non-proliferation treaty by the two governments in January.
“It happened while he was doing it,” said Biden of Putin’s electoral interference efforts. “But that is extremely in the interest of humanity.”
Biden’s comments come after the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a disqualified assessment on Tuesday, which concluded that Putin authorized “influence operations designed to denigrate” Biden’s candidacy and the Democratic Party while “supporting” the campaign re-election of former President Donald Trump.
Influential operations, conducted by various Russian governmental organizations, were also aimed at “undermining public confidence in the electoral process” and “aggravating socio-political divisions” in the United States, according to an ODNI assessment.
Russia previously “interfered in the 2016 presidential election in a broad and systematic way,” wrote former special adviser Robert Mueller in his March 2019 report.
Biden, who dealt with Putin during the Obama administration, on several occasions reported on a 2011 meeting during which the then vice president said to the Russian leader, “I don’t think you have a soul.”
“I told him that, yes,” Biden told Stephanopoulos in the interview that aired on Wednesday. “And his response was, ‘We understand each other.’ I wasn’t being a smart guy. I was alone with him in his office. That’s how it happened. “
“Look, the most important thing when dealing with foreign leaders, from my experience – and I’ve dealt with many of them over the course of my career – is just meeting the other guy,” added the president.
Asked by Stephanopoulos if he thinks Putin “is a murderer”, Biden replied: “Mm hmm. I make.”