When interviewer George Stephanopoulos asked Biden if he thought Putin was “a murderer”, the president said, “Mhmm. I think.”
In response to the comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday that “there was nothing like it in history”.
He said it was clear that Biden “definitely does not want to improve relations” with Russia and that the relationship between the two countries is “very bad”. When asked how it could affect relations, Peskov said “it is absolutely clear how”, but declined to elaborate.
“These are very bad statements by the President of the United States. He definitely does not want to improve relations with us and we will continue on from that,” said Peskov.
Peskov said there are currently no plans for Putin to meet Antonov, but if necessary, Putin will talk to him.
In the interview, Biden also stated that he told Putin in 2011 that he thought Putin had no soul. Putin’s response, Biden recalls, was to say, “We understand each other.”
“Look, the most important thing when dealing with foreign leaders, and I’ve dealt with a lot of them over the course of my career, is just getting to know the other guy,” Biden told ABC.
The report is the most comprehensive assessment of external threats to the 2020 elections to date, detailing extensive influence operations by U.S. opponents who have sought to undermine confidence in the democratic process, as well as targeting specific presidential candidates.
The president gave no further details to ABC about the “price” Putin will pay, but the Biden government is expected to announce sanctions related to electoral interference next week, three US State Department officials told CNN. The authorities have not released any details related to the expected sanctions, but said they will target several countries, including Russia, China and Iran.
Anna Chernova, Zahra Ullah reported from Moscow, Rob Picheta wrote in London.