Kremlin responds to Biden’s latest Putin insult
US President Joe Biden’s latest insult of Russian President Vladimir Putin is “unacceptable,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Friday.
During a press conference following this week’s NATO summit in Washington, Biden stated that “some of the oldest and deepest fears” in Europe had “roared back to life because once again a murderous madman was on the march,” referring to the Russian president. Biden suggested that the Ukraine conflict has been “a rude awakening” for those “who thought NATO’s time had passed.”
Commenting on the NATO summit and Biden’s remark, Peskov stressed that the Kremlin sees the US president’s behavior as “absolutely unacceptable, impermissible for a head of state.”
The spokesman added that such statements “do not paint the American leader in a good light,” and noted that Moscow continues to “pay direct attention” to such outbursts.
Peskov was also asked to comment on the numerous gaffes that plagued Biden’s speech during the summit, including mixing up Russia and Ukraine, announcing Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky as “President Putin” and referring to former President Donald Trump as the US vice president instead of Kamala Harris.
The spokesman stated that “we have paid attention to the fact that the whole world has paid attention to this,” but stated that Moscow can offer no other comments on this matter, other than stating that “it is clear that these are slips of the tongue.”
He noted that the resonance caused by Biden’s continued gaffes are all in the context of US domestic political discussions, and that “this is none of our business, this is an internal matter for the United States.”
Biden’s repeated gaffes have recently led to a number of high-ranking Democrats and major donors to call for the aging president to withdraw from the race and give way to another candidate.
Concerns over the 81-year-old’s mental and physical well-being deepened following his debate with Republican frontrunner Donald Trump last month. During the debate, Biden appeared to struggle finishing his sentences, repeatedly mixed up words, and lost his train of thought on several occasions.
Nevertheless, Biden has dismissed concerns over his age and mental decline and has vowed to stay in the race and serve out a full second term if reelected, arguing that he is the best person to defeat Trump in November.
