President Vladimir V. Putin mentioned on Wednesday that it was in Russia’s curiosity for President Biden to win a second time period, calling his American counterpart skilled and predictable, and dismissing issues about Mr. Biden’s age.
It was the primary time that Mr. Putin had immediately expressed a choice forward of the U.S. presidential election in November, and the feedback ran counter to the widespread assumption that the Kremlin was rooting for former President Donald J. Trump, the front-runner to be the Republican nominee. Mr. Putin made the feedback in a quick interview with Russian state tv launched late Wednesday.
“Who is healthier for us: Biden or Trump?” the interviewer requested.
“Biden,” Mr. Putin responded. “He’s a extra skilled particular person, he’s predictable, he’s a politician of the old-fashioned.”
Mr. Putin added, with a smile, “However we are going to work with any U.S. chief whom the American individuals trust in.”
Some commentators rapidly dismissed Mr. Putin’s feedback as a provocation or maybe as a roundabout try to overwhelm Mr. Biden’s marketing campaign by saddling him with the endorsement of one among America’s essential adversaries.
It was additionally the newest in a collection of feedback by Mr. Putin that appeared geared toward retaining tensions with the US in examine, coming at a time when different developments — akin to jitters about Russia’s potential plans to deploy a space-based nuclear weapon — threaten to exacerbate the strains within the international locations’ relations.
Mr. Trump shocked policymakers this previous week when he mentioned that he would invite Russia “to do regardless of the hell they need” to NATO member international locations that had not met their commitments on army spending.
Referring to Mr. Trump’s feedback, Mr. Putin mentioned within the interview on Wednesday, “Allow them to determine it out themselves — that’s their drawback.”
“I feel there’s no level to NATO anymore, it is senseless,” Mr. Putin added. “It has only one function — as an instrument of U.S. international coverage.”
Requested later about Mr. Biden’s well being, Mr. Putin defended his American counterpart — although Russian state media typically echoes Republicans in denigrating Mr. Biden as being too outdated for his job. When he met Mr. Biden in Switzerland in 2021, Mr. Putin mentioned, “they have been already saying that he was incompetent. I didn’t see something prefer it.”
The commentary was Mr. Putin’s newest on American politics that appeared, superficially a minimum of, to carry out an olive department to the Biden administration. In his interview final week with Tucker Carlson, a former Fox Information host, Mr. Putin kept away from criticizing Mr. Biden immediately and mentioned little about Mr. Trump, whereas calling on Washington to barter over Ukraine — a suggestion rapidly dismissed by the White Home.
(In Wednesday’s feedback, Mr. Putin additionally bought in a dig at Mr. Carlson, describing his shock that Mr. Carlson had patiently “listened to my lengthy dialogues” and that he had not requested “powerful questions.”)
Even some supporters of Mr. Putin, nevertheless, questioned whether or not the Russian chief was real in his reward for Mr. Biden. One post by a pro-Kremlin blogger referred to as the interview a “incredible session of midnight trolling” that will have been meant to profit Mr. Trump, given {that a} Putin endorsement shouldn’t be essentially an advantageous one in American politics.
Certainly, Mr. Trump said at a campaign event on Wednesday that Mr. Putin had paid him a “praise.”
“After all he would say that,” Mr. Trump mentioned. “He desires to have Biden as a result of he’s going to be given the whole lot.”
When he was president, Mr. Trump drew harsh criticism from Democrats for being overly solicitous of Russia and Mr. Putin. That was significantly true after a 2018 summit in Helsinki, the place Mr. Trump selected to assist Mr. Putin over America’s personal intelligence companies, before trying to backtrack.
Russia interfered forward of the 2016 election to assist Mr. Trump, the U.S. intelligence community has concluded, whereas Mr. Putin publicly referred to as Mr. Trump “a really vibrant and proficient man.” However afterward, there was widespread disappointment in Moscow that Mr. Trump didn’t ship on his marketing campaign rhetoric about bettering ties with Russia.
Requested about Mr. Trump in September, Mr. Putin said, “I feel that there will likely be no basic modifications within the Russia route of U.S. international coverage, irrespective of who’s elected president.”
Oleg Matsnev contributed reporting.
