Russian President Vladimir Putin stated Wednesday that he prefers to work with ‘experienced’ US Presidents such as Joe Biden over Donald Trump. However, he indicated that the Kremlin was willing to work with whoever wins the November election.
Putin Prefers Biden as US President
In an interview, Pavel Zarubin of Russia-1 TV asked Putin who was “better for us [Russia]" between Biden and Trump. Putin said, “Biden. He is a more experienced, predictable person, a politician of the old school.”
“But we will work with any leader of the United States, who is trusted by the American people,” Putin explained.
Putin dismissed questions regarding Biden’s age and mental condition, saying that when they last met in 2021, he noticed nothing unusual. “Even then people were saying that he was incompetent, but I did not see anything of this sort,” he added. However, Biden has been a harsh critic of Putin for years, calling him a “killer” even before the invasion of Ukraine.
Despite his controlled support for Biden, Putin claimed American policy towards Russia was “harmful and mistaken” and said that Trump was right to raise doubts about NATO’s future. “There is probably some logic in his [Trump's] point of view,” Putin stated. “There is no logic from the Europeans’ point of view — they want the US to keep carrying out some functions for free, as they have done since NATO was founded.”
“If the US thinks they don’t need [NATO] anymore, then that’s their decision,” Putin said. Trump “had his own views on how US relations with their allies should develop,” he added.
Putin says Russia prefers Biden to Trump because he's 'more experienced and predictable' https://t.co/lTQpWuXu5V
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 15, 2024
Trump Remarks
Trump regarded Putin’s statement that Russia would prefer to deal with Biden as a “great compliment.” “President Putin of Russia has just given me a great compliment actually. He’s just said that he would much rather have Joe Biden as president than Trump. Now that's a compliment,” Trump remarked.
At the same time, the former US president reiterated that he “got along good” with Putin and promised to resolve the Russia-Ukraine dispute quickly.
Trump recently sparked outrage when he stated that he would “encourage” Russia to attack any NATO member that failed to comply with the US-led alliance's financial contribution threshold of 2% of GDP.
In response, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said, “Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the US, and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk.” “Any attack on NATO will be met with a united and forceful response,” he added.
“America’s leadership on the world stage and support for our allies is critical to keeping the American people safe here at home,” Biden said in a statement.
“If my opponent, Donald Trump, is able to regain power, he is making it clear as day that he will abandon our NATO allies if Russia attacks and allow Russia to do whatever the hell they want with them,” he added.
NATO’s 31 members pledged to spend at least 2% of GDP on defence, but NATO assessments show that just 11 spend that much.