https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-12/ ... /100210830Russian President Vladimir Putin says relations with US at lowest point in years ahead of meeting with Joe Biden.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says US-Russia relations are at their lowest point in years ahead of his meeting with US President Joe Biden next week.
Mr Putin and Mr Biden will meet in Geneva on Wednesday. The White House has said Mr Biden will bring up ransomware attacks emanating from Russia, Moscow's aggression against Ukraine, the jailing of dissidents and other issues that have irritated the relationship.
"We have a bilateral relationship that has deteriorated to its lowest point in recent years," Mr Putin said, according to an NBC News translation of excerpts of the interview.
Mr Putin praised former president Donald Trump as "an extraordinary individual, talented individual," and said Mr Biden, as a career politician, was "radically different" from Mr Trump.
"You may like him or not. But he didn't come from the US establishment," he said of Mr Trump.
Asked about Mr Biden calling him a killer in an interview in March, Mr Putin said he had heard dozens of such accusations.
"This is not something I worry about in the least," Mr Putin said.
Mr Biden, at the start of an eight-day visit to Europe this week, said: "We're not seeking conflict with Russia."
"We want a stable and predictable relationship … but I've been clear: The United States will respond in a robust and meaningful way if the Russian government engages in harmful activities."
China gets a pass because they pay the old fool.