White House shuts down Putin invite to public video chat, says Biden is 'quite busy'

Mark Moore
The New York Post
Thu, 18 Mar 2021 15:52 UTC

© Donat Sorokin/TASS via Getty Images

The White House will not hold a public video conference between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin.

The White House shut down a request by Russia's Vladimir Putin to hold a public conversation - perhaps on Zoom - with President Biden, saying the commander-in-chief is "quite busy."

Putin went on state-TV after Biden referred to him as a "killer" in an interview Wednesday and said he was ready to hold talks with Biden on the relationship between the two countries and other regional conflicts.

He said said he would have his foreign ministry set something up for Friday or Monday.

But White House press secretary Jen Psaki quickly rebuffed the invitation and the tiff over the "killer" comments, saying Putin and Biden have "different perspectives on their respective countries."

"We are confident that we can continue to look for ways where there's a mutual interest - mutual national interest,​"​ Psaki said. ​"​But the president is not going to hold back, clearly, when he has concerns, whether it is with words or actions."

She also said that Biden and Putin talked in January "even as there are more world leaders that he has not yet engaged with."

"​I don't have anything to report to you in terms of a future meeting. The president will, of course, be in Georgia tomorrow and quite busy​," Psaki added. ​

In the interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, Biden ​was asked if he thought Putin was a "killer."

"I do," the president said.

Biden also claimed he and the Russian leader had a conversation about the fact that he doesn't believe Putin has a soul.

Biden said he told the Russian leader, "I said, 'I looked through your eyes, and I don't think you have a soul,' " the president told ABC's George Stephanopoulos — and Putin looked back and replied, "We understand each other."

Putin went on Russian TV to shoot back, telling Biden "it take​s​ one to know one" and wishing the US president "good health" without "any irony or joke."

"We always see our own traits in other people and think they are like how we really are. And as a result, we assess (a person's) activities and give assessments," Putin said.

Russia has recalled its ambassador to Washington, DC in retaliation and demanded that Biden apologize to Putin for the "killer" comment.

The latest tiff marks a new low point in the relationship between the two countries that has been declining for more than a decade because of Moscow's illegal annexation of Crimea, its support of pro-Russian forces in Ukraine and its meddling in the 2016 election.

The Biden administration slapped sanctions on Russian officials and businesses earlier this month after the US intelligence community determined that a Russian spy agency was behind the poisoning of dissident Alexei Navalny.

With Post wires

Comment: Wow. The article above sure got it wrong on the Ukraine and the 2016 election.

Ont the main substance of the story however, The Kremlin had more to say on this new level of belligerence:

The Kremlin said on Friday that Moscow always hoped for the best but prepared for the worst when it was asked about the possibility of a new Cold War between the United States and Russia.

Diplomatic ties sank to a new low this week after U.S. President Joe Biden said he thought President Vladimir Putin was "a killer" in an interview that prompted Russia to recall its ambassador to the United States. Putin later offered Biden live online talks in the coming days.

On Friday, the Kremlin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Putin's offer of talks remained open and that Putin could do any time that was convenient for Biden, though the offer would not stay on the table indefinitely.

Putin said that despite everything there's no point in playing at megaphone diplomacy and trading barbs. There is a point in continuing relations," Peskov told reporters on a conference call.

He was asked about a new Cold War between the two countries.

"We, of course, always hope for the best, but are always ready for the worst. As far as Russia is concerned, President Putin has clearly stated his desire to continue ties...," he said.

"But of course, we can't not take into account Biden's comments," he said, in a reference to Biden's interview with ABC News broadcast on Wednesday.

In it, Biden said "I do" when asked if he believed Putin was a killer, prompting Putin to cite a Russian children's playground chant in response saying "he who said it, did it".

Biden also described Putin as having no soul in the interview, and said the Russian leader would pay a price for alleged meddling in the November 2020 U.S. presidential election, something the Kremlin denies.

And the Kremlin's actions speak louder with words with this:

Russia was the only nation that refused to send its top UN representative to talks with US President Joe Biden on Thursday, electing instead to dispatch a junior envoy, as a diplomatic row between Moscow and Washington worsens.

President Biden had invited permanent representatives from the United Nations Security Council, on which Moscow has continuous representation, to discuss his country's "commitment to values-based global leadership." In addition, the president called for action on crises in regions across the world, including Myanmar, Ethiopia, Syria, and Yemen.

However, Dmitry Polyanskiy, second-in-command to Russia's permanent representative, Vassily Nebenzia, confirmed on Friday that neither had attended the meeting. Instead, he revealed, Anna Evstigneeva, one of three more junior deputies, had joined the talks with Biden in their place. She reportedly made no remarks.

RIA Novosti reports that Russia's diplomatic mission was the only one that did not send its top figure to greet the American president.

The decision comes amid a week in which Biden and his Russian counterpart, President Vladimir Putin, have traded barbs in the press. In an explosive interview with ABC earlier this week, Biden was asked whether he thought Putin was a killer. "Mmm hmm, I do," Biden replied.

On Thursday, the Russian leader responded, arguing that judging other countries is often "like looking in a mirror."

"When I was a kid, when we were arguing with each other in the playground, we used to say, 'Whatever you say [about others] is what you are yourself,'" Putin said.

The US is expected to unveil new sanctions on Russia as early as next week in response to claims that Moscow attempted to influence the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. A joint report by US intelligence agencies argued that a network of Russian proxies had worked with the aim of "denigrating President Biden's candidacy and the Democratic Party, supporting former President Trump, undermining public confidence in the electoral process, and exacerbating sociopolitical divisions in the US."

On Wednesday, Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, denied the claims, insisting that "Russia has nothing to do with any campaigns against any of the candidates. In this regard, we consider this report to be incorrect." Instead, he argued, the allegations were being used as an excuse to introduce new sanctions.