Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed a preference for a Joe Biden presidency over Donald Trump ahead of the US election in November.
Putin stated that Biden is the more experienced and predictable candidate, remarks that are likely to surprise many. This is a shift from Putin’s previous praise of Trump before his 2016 election campaign.
Biden has been a vocal critic of Putin for years, even referring to him as a “killer” before the invasion of Ukraine. Putin also commented on his recent interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson, expressing disappointment that the questions were not sharp enough.
Speaking to Russian TV in an on-camera interview on Wednesday, Mr Putin said Mr Biden’s leadership would be better for Russia because he was a “more experienced person, he is predictable, he is a politician of the old formation”.
Putin dismissed questions about Joe Biden’s age and mental health, stating that when they last met in 2021, he had not noticed anything peculiar.
“Even then [three years ago] people were saying that he was incompetent, but I did not see anything of this sort,” he said.
“Yes, he kept looking at his papers, but to be honest I kept doing the same. So there was nothing peculiar.”
Mr Putin clarified that Russia would work with anyone who “gains the trust of the American public” and wins the presidency.
It wasn’t all glowing feedback for Mr Biden, however: Mr Putin described the US president’s condemnation of the war in Ukraine as “extremely harmful and erroneous”.
In the lead-up to the 2016 US election, Mr Trump had suggested he and Mr Putin would “get along very well”.
Mr Trump recently sparked outrage when he suggested that he would “encourage” Russia to attack any NATO member that did not meet the alliance’s financial contribution target of 2% of their GDP.
In response, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg urged Mr Trump not to “undermine” the alliance’s collective security guarantee.