The resonance in Russia from a short fragment of United States President Joseph Biden’s ABC News interview last Wednesday (March 17) has been extraordinarily loud—and the bilateral consequences could be far greater than just the Russian ambassador being recalled to Moscow for consultations. Biden’s plain answer – “I do” – to the question he received about whether he thought President Vladimir Putin was a “killer” produced greater impact than just the orchestrated propaganda outrage and the declarations of loyalty from Russian political elites. While pundits in Moscow claim that Biden miscalculated the damage done to US-Russian relations, the real issue is his expressed readiness to deliver on the promise to make Russia pay for its interference in the US elections, perpetration of large-scale cyberattacks and other crimes.
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Pavel Baev: Two words that shook Putin’s regime
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a concert marking the seventh anniversary of Russia's annexation of Crimea at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow on March 18, 2021.
