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“U.S.-Russia ties nosedived on Thursday after Russian leader Vladimir Putin shot back at President Joe Biden’s description of him as a killer… In an interview broadcast Wednesday, Biden replied ‘I do’ when asked if he thought Putin was a ‘killer.’ Also Wednesday, U.S. intelligence released a report finding that Putin authorized influence operations to help Trump’s re-election bid. Later that day, Putin recalled his ambassador to the U.S.” AP News
The right supports standing up to Putin, but is skeptical that Biden will take concrete actions to do so.
“Biden is right to call Putin a killer. Now he should declassify the proof… After [Russian opposition leader Vladimir] Kara-Murza’s second poisoning, in 2017, his wife traveled to Washington, where, with the support of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), she provided samples of her husband’s blood to the FBI for analysis. ‘They did test them. And then they classified the results,’ he said…
“He sued under the Freedom of Information Act and received several hundred pages of highly redacted documents. The papers show that the U.S. intelligence community thinks he was a victim of deliberate poisoning, but officials withheld the proof — the actual test results…
“Kara-Murza said he thinks that the Trump administration cut a deal with Russian security service chiefs during a meeting in Washington in which they agreed not to make the test results public. If Biden wants to send a signal to Moscow that he’s taking a tougher line, there’s a simple way to do it: Declassify Kara-Murza’s test results.”
Marc A. Thiessen, The Washington Post
“It’s worth remembering that the Obama administration’s obsession with a Vladimir Putin ‘reset’ was a Joe Biden production. It was the reset that prompted the administration to remove a missile-defense system from Eastern Europe and worked to kill the Magnitsky Act — the sanctions bill named after Sergei Magnitsky, a whistleblower who was murdered by the Russian government…
“It was Biden who told Dmitry Medvedev, the lackey half of the Putin tandemocracy, that Russia’s accession to the WTO was ‘the most important item on our agenda.’ A weird thing to gift a soulless dictator, I’d say. It was Biden who, one year before mocking Mitt Romney for his aggressive stance on Russia and accusing him of being a would-be slaveowner, praised Putin’s stooge as ‘one of the most powerful men in the world, and that’s how we still think of you — I mean that sincerely.’”
David Harsanyi, National Review
“Putin’s gangsterism has been ignored by administrations of both parties, starting with George W. Bush and most definitely including the Barack Obama/Biden terms… Almost literally the first thing Biden did in office was to extend an arms agreement with Putin despite US suspicions and evidence of Russian cheating on such treaties. Biden calls it a demonstration that we can ‘walk and chew gum at the same time for places where it’s in our mutual interest to to work together.’ Putin likely sees it as more reason for impunity…
“Russia wasn’t the only country that had been found to attempt interference in this election. The same intel report also found that Iran staged intel-propaganda operations to undercut Donald Trump. Will Iran also pay a price, or does Biden only plan payback for those who tried to make him look bad? So far, the administration keeps talking about how it wants to re-engage with Iran, not make them ‘pay a price’ … and Iran’s mullahcracy has at least as much blood on their hands as Putin, much of it American blood.”
Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
In response to Biden’s comments, “[Putin said] ‘I want to invite President Biden to continue our discussions, but on the condition that we do this actually live, online, but without any delay, but right in an open, direct discussion.’… He evidently believes the American president would slip up in any live interaction… [former Russian President Dmitry] Medvedev told RIA Novosti that he had previously met ‘Joe Biden at various international events. He gave the impression of being reasonable then. But apparently time hasn’t been kind to him.’…
“Expect more Russian agitation toward the questioning of Biden's mental health. It's a preferable strategy for the Kremlin in three specific ways. First, it allows for a personal riposte to Biden's attack on Putin's character…
“Second, it plays to concerns in other governments that Biden is, perhaps, not as sharp as he once was. That is relevant in terms of the trust and confidence foundation, which ultimately underpins the U.S.-led liberal international order. Third, it offers a nice accoutrement to Putin's narrative that America is an archaic, weak, and corrupt nation built on shaky foundations.”
Tom Rogan, Washington Examiner
The left supports Biden standing up to Putin, and contrasts it against Trump’s refusal to criticize him.
The left supports Biden standing up to Putin, and contrasts it against Trump’s refusal to criticize him.
“Daniel Fried, an Atlantic Council fellow and former top U.S. diplomat, said that, while he could have worded it differently, what Biden said was truthful, noting opposition figures like Alexei Navalny who have been targeted and Russia’s invasion of Crimea. ‘I have little sympathy for the Russian expressions of feigned outrage and a great deal of sympathy for President Biden who is making a point, and he is saying let’s call things by their name,’ Fried said…
“Biden’s approach is seen in part as an effort to draw a sharp contrast with his predecessor, who did not forcefully push back on Russia for interfering in U.S. elections. ‘It means the tenor of the relations has changed. It means that we’re not talking nice about Putin and the Kremlin anymore and were not papering over what they’re doing,’ said Evelyn Farkas, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia under former President Obama. ‘The Russians now will have to decide whether they want the tenor and the actual relationship to improve because they would have to stop all the things they are doing,’ Farkas added.”
Morgan Chalfant and Laura Kelly, The Hill
“Over and over, Trump was presented with questions about the frequency with which critics of Putin met with untimely ends. And over and over, Trump demurred, either shrugging at others’ concerns or equating Putin’s behavior with that of the United States… ‘He kills journalists that don't agree with him,’ Joe Scarborough said to Trump. ‘Well, I think that our country does plenty of killing, too, Joe,” Trump replied…
“‘Nobody has proven that he's killed anyone,’ [Trump] said on ABC's ‘This Week.’ He offered an odd addendum: ‘You're supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, at least in our country. It has not been proven that he's killed reporters.’”
Philip Bump, Washington Post
“Biden’s conclusion is surely informed by the Kremlin’s recent attempt to kill the Russian pro-democracy opposition figure Alexei Navalny last year and UK-based Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in 2018. Still, it’s noteworthy to hear a president openly agree another world leader is a ‘killer.’ For example, when then-Fox News host Bill O’Reilly asked Trump the same question in 2017, Trump’s response was: ‘You think our country is so innocent?’ and ‘I do respect [Putin].’…
“It’s clear, then, that Biden is no fan of the Kremlin leader and is currently in no rush to improve US-Russia ties. However, he did conclude the Russia segment by noting both countries can work together when their interests align, citing the five-year extension of the New START nuclear arms control deal between the two countries earlier this year. Put together, the Biden administration will remain tough on Russia and Putin in particular. But if they can find areas of mutual interest, then Washington and Moscow might be able to put their differences aside — at least temporarily.”
Alex Ward, Vox
Some note that, “Generally speaking, when you call someone a killer, you follow it up with action, though as the recent case of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman shows, that’s not the case for everyone. Similarly to its handling of the investigation of MBS’s role in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, the Biden administration has declassified an intelligence finding that Russia’s FSB security agency was behind the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and has announced new sanctions against a number of Russian officials in response, but none targeting Putin himself. (The Russian president is in direct control of the FSB.)…
“Ultimately the ‘killer’ affair may have more to do with domestic politics in both countries than foreign policy. All Biden really did was repeat a story he’s been telling for years, and concur with his own intelligence agencies’ assessments of Putin’s activities. But by choosing to do it, he did draw a contrast with Trump…
“The Trump years opened up a wide partisan gap in U.S. views on Putin, and it’s hard to imagine Biden will suffer politically for criticizing the Russian leader, no matter how glibly. As for Putin, he’s been using international crises to deflect attention from problems at home for decades now.”
Joshua Keating, Slate
