The Kremlin was undoubtedly furious at President Joe Biden’s interview on Wednesday with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News. In contrast to former President Donald Trump’s direct refusal to condemn the Russian leader for any of his actions, when Biden was asked if he thought Russian President Vladimir Putin was a “murderer”, he replied succinctly: “Mmm- hmm, yes. “
On Thursday, Putin appeared shaken and angry as he personally addressed Biden’s comments during a video call with residents of Crimea, marking the anniversary of his annexation of Ukraine by Russia in 2014.
Looking furiously at the camera lens, Putin forced a smile and said of Biden: “I wish you good health”. The charged response can be read as an implicit threat, but it probably refers to the continued efforts of the Kremlin-controlled state media to portray the American president as an unhappy elder who suffers from dementia.
To achieve this desired impression, Russian state media often show clips of Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, attacking the mental capabilities of the US leader. The campaign to portray President Biden as mentally incapacitated began long before he was elected, and on that front – and on many others – the narratives of Russian propaganda have blended perfectly with those of Fox News.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday that “there was nothing like it in history” and described the statements by the US president as “very bad”.
On the same day that the ABC interview aired, Russia called back its ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, “for consultations” on relations with the United States. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said relations between Moscow and Washington “are going through difficult times”, blaming the United States for taking them “to a dead end”.
Putin didn’t even bother to deny Biden’s “killer” accusation during his appearance on Thursday on Russian state TV. Instead, the Russian president responded with a comment that roughly translates to “It takes one to meet one.”
In fact, there is little doubt that Putin is responsible for the bloodshed abroad; in Ukraine, Georgia and Syria, and against their own citizens living on foreign soil. Putin was accused of ordering the assassination attempt on his most eloquent domestic rival, Alexei Navalny, by a military-grade Novichok nerve agent last year. Putin’s government was also linked to the 2018 poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in England and the murder of a former Chechen separatists commander in Berlin in 2019. Notably, in 2006, Putin signed a law that legalized selective assassinations of “extremists” outside the country. On Wednesday, the United States imposed additional sanctions against Russia for using chemical weapons against dissidents.
Most Russian state legislators, experts and state media experts have not even tried to argue against Biden’s perception that President Putin is a “killer”. They just stepped back from the unthinkable idea of openly criticizing Putin, which is not only taboo in his motherland, but also dangerous. “You can think what you want, but don’t say it out loud,” argued politician Sergey Stankevich, in The night with Vladimir Soloviev.
Vladimir Soloviev, the host of the program, somberly assumed the significance of the statements by the President of the United States: “This is a declaration of the New Cold War. Of course, we will respond – and we will respond very harshly. “
“He let it slip because he is an old man. Maybe he doesn’t realize that the American president shouldn’t be saying that kind of thing out loud, ”suggested Russian lawmaker Oleg Morozov. Karen Shakhnazarov, a prominent figure on Russian state TV talk shows, argued against the propaganda tropes about Biden’s alleged mental health. “He is an experienced old wolf,” said Shakhnazarov, “He understands exactly what he is saying … there must be a tough answer.”
“This is an outrageous statement,” said Konstantin Zatulin, a member of the lower house of Russia’s parliament, “we must not support it. At the very least, Biden must be ostracized from all relationships. “
Russian state media experts and analysts, many of whom miss Biden’s predecessor, commented on Trump finding the “right words” when former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly asked him if Putin is a killer. Instead of a direct answer, Trump answered O’Reilly with another question, asking him, “Do you think our country is so innocent?”
The presenter of the Russian state TV program 60 minutes, Evgeny Popov, recalled the former president referring to Vladimir Putin as “a great guy”. Popov was bitterly amazed: “An amazing transformation, from” nice guy “to” killer “in such a short time!”
With Biden in charge, Russian lawmakers and speakers seemed perplexed as to the exact measures that could be taken against the United States. There was a universal consensus that the answer would be non-linear, asymmetric and decidedly dirty. Experts and experts have proposed a variety of measures: from unfair tactics to undermine US vaccines, to impeding the functions of American businessmen operating in Russia, to interrupting cooperation in space and interfering in US relations with Iran and China.
Appearing in Russia 60 minutes, Alexei Timofeev, political commentator for the state media Sputnik, suggested “launching the kompromat” against Biden. Timofeev argued that, after Biden’s comments on Putin, the US ambassador to the Russian Federation John Sullivan “should have holes in the knees of his pants”, begging the Kremlin for forgiveness.
“Revenge is a dish that is served cold,” threatened Igor Korotchenko, a member of the Ministry of Defense’s public advisory board. During his appearance in 60 minutes, Korotchenko proposed to radically increase the number of spies residing in the United States. He said angrily: “We need to grab them by the udders and get access to any information whenever we need it. That will be the best answer. “
“They crossed the red line,” said Dmitry Abzalov, Director of the Strategic Communications Center, in 60 minutes. The show’s host, Evgeny Popov, ominously predicted: “The world will never be the same again.”