Russian President Vladimir Putin says he prefers ‘more predictable’ Biden to Trump

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview broadcast on Wednesday that he preferred Joe Biden to Donald Trump but was willing to work with any U.S. president. Interviewer Pavel Zarubin asked Putin who was “better for us”, Democrat Biden or Republican Trump.

Putin replied without hesitation: “Biden. He is a more experienced and prophetic person, an old-school politician.” He added with a smile: “But we will trust the American people.” Cooperation with any U.S. president.” This is Putin’s first public comment on the 2024 U.S. election, which is expected to be the second consecutive meeting between Biden and Trump.

At a time of heightened political uncertainty in the United States, with relations between the two countries at their lowest point in more than 60 years, his comments are more likely to be viewed as mischief than taken at face value. Biden has led the Western response to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, including expanding the NATO alliance, imposing waves of sanctions on Moscow and providing billions of dollars’ worth of aid and weapons to Kiev.

Building on Trump’s reluctance to criticize Putin during his first term and his recent comments, including saying in an interview over the weekend that he would encourage Russia to attack NATO members that fail to invest enough in their own defense, Many of his critics believe he will give the Kremlin leader a much easier ride.

Putin allowed himself to weigh in on both candidates and even discuss the sensitive issue of Biden’s mental health, although he said it would be wrong to interfere in the campaign. “When I met Biden in Switzerland – indeed, it was a few years ago, three years ago – people were already saying that he was not up to the job. I didn’t see anything like that,” Putin said.

While appearing to defend Biden, he referenced an incident that embarrassed the U.S. leader when he hit his head while getting off a helicopter last June. Well, who among us hasn’t hit our head? ” Putin said. He said that Trump “is known as an unsystematic politician; he has his own views on the topic of how the United States should develop relations with its allies. “

Putin has been president or prime minister since 1999, but at 71 years old, he is 10 years younger than Biden and 6 years younger than Trump. He is certain to win a new six-year term in next month’s election, where two candidates opposed to the war in Ukraine were disqualified for submitting invalid documents. In 2020, a U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee report found that Russia attempted to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election to help Trump defeat Hillary Clinton.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a Yonhap news agency feed – Reuters)