Putin made it clear that “it is sensible to have a chat to keep up Russia-US relations as an alternative of buying and selling barbs,” and he wished to make it public to assist defuse tensions over Biden’s “very dangerous remarks,” mentioned his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov.
In an interview broadcast on Wednesday, Biden replied “I do” when requested if he thought Putin was a “killer.” Russia responded by recalling its ambassador in Washington for consultations and Putin on Thursday pointed on the US historical past of slavery, slaughtering Native Individuals and the atomic bombing of Japan in World Battle II in an “it-takes-one-to-know-one” response.
On the similar time, Putin famous that Russia would nonetheless cooperate with america the place and when it helps Moscow’s pursuits, including that “a whole lot of sincere and first rate individuals within the US need to have peace and friendship with Russia.” He proposed the telephone name with Biden within the subsequent few days to debate the coronavirus pandemic, regional conflicts and different points, and he recommended that the dialog be open to the general public.
Peskov mentioned Putin’s supply to make the decision public was supposed to stop Biden’s assertion from inflicting irreparable injury to the already-frayed ties.
“Since Biden’s phrases had been fairly unprecedented, unprecedented codecs cannot be excluded,” Peskov mentioned. “President Putin proposed to debate the scenario overtly as a result of it might be fascinating for the individuals of each nations.”
Peskov mentioned the Kremlin hasn’t heard again from the White Home on the decision supply, including that it wasn’t going to repeat the proposal.
“The request has been made,” he mentioned in a convention name with reporters. “The dearth of response would imply a refusal to have a dialog.”
In taking a troublesome stance on Russia, Biden has mentioned the times of the US “rolling over” to Putin are accomplished. And he has taken pains to distinction his model with the strategy of former President Donald Trump, who prevented direct confrontation with Putin and often spoke about him with approval.
White Home press secretary Jen Psaki mentioned Biden would proceed to look to cooperate on efforts to stem Iran’s nuclear program and, extra broadly, nuclear nonproliferation. However she mentioned Biden didn’t remorse referring to Putin as a killer and pushed again in opposition to strategies the rhetoric was unhelpful.
Russia’s relations with america and the European Union already had plunged to post-Chilly Battle lows after Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, meddling in elections, hacking assaults and, most not too long ago, the jailing of Russia’s opposition chief Alexei Navalny after his poisoning, which he blamed on the Kremlin. Russian authorities rejected the accusations.
On Wednesday, the US nationwide intelligence director’s workplace launched a report discovering that Putin approved affect operations to assist Trump’s reelection bid. The Biden administration warned that Russia would face sanctions quickly over its try to affect the election and the huge SolarWinds hacks.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan weighed within the controversy, saying Biden’s assertion about Putin was “unbecoming of a head of state.”
“It’s really not acceptable or palatable for a head of state to make use of such an expression in opposition to the pinnacle of a state resembling Russia,” Erdogan advised reporters in Istanbul. He praised Putin’s response as “very astute and stylish.”
Erdogan’s feedback got here as Turkey’s efforts in direction of a reset of its troubled relations with the US stay unanswered. Since Biden’s inauguration in January, he has not held a phone name with Erdogan.