President Biden said he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin was “a murderer” in an interview on Wednesday, promising to “pay a price” for his election interference efforts.
The commander-in-chief made the comments to ABC’s “Good Morning America” after being asked about a report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that implicated the Kremlin in efforts to undermine US elections and divide American society.
“He’s going to pay a price. We had a long conversation, he and I, I know him relatively well, “said the 46th president,” And the conversation started, I said, ‘I know you and you know me. If I establish that this has happened, then be prepared. “
Asked by GMA anchor George Stephanopoulos about his earlier comment that he did not believe the Russian president had a soul, Biden confirmed these claims.
“I told him that, yes, and his response was, ‘We understand each other.’ I wasn’t being a smart guy, I was alone with him in his office and that’s how it happened. “
Biden then referred to ex-President Bush’s famous remark after the 2001 Slovenian Summit between him and Putin that he “looked the man in the eye. I found him very direct and reliable – I was able to feel his soul. “
“I said, ‘I looked through your eyes, and I don’t think you have a soul,'” said the Russian leader, Biden to Stephanopoulos, to which Putin looked back and replied: “We understand each other.”
“Look, the most important thing about dealing with foreign leaders in my experience – and I’ve dealt with a lot of terrible things in my career – is just meeting the other guy.”
Asked if he thinks Putin is “a murderer”, Biden replied, “I think”.
Biden said the Russian leader would pay a price for his actions that undermine the United States, but that the two nations still need to work together.
“The price he will pay, well, you will see soon,” he commented before saying that he wanted to be able to “walk and chew gum at the same time, and there are places where it is in our mutual interest to work together. “
“That’s why I renewed the START agreement with them. This occurred while he was doing this, ”he continued, seeming to refer to Putin’s electoral interference efforts,“ but it is overwhelming, in the interest of humanity, that we diminish the prospect of a nuclear exchange ”.
Relations between the US and Russia have been complex in recent years, aggravated by Kremlin-backed invasions of Crimea and Ukraine, Moscow “interfering” in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, Alexei Navalny’s poisoning by the Russian opposition and the devastating and massive cyber attack on US computer systems, for which Russia has been held responsible by intelligence officials.
For its part, Russia said it does not expect “anything positive” from the Biden government.