Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin have been having an unusually lively exchange. On Wednesday, in a televised interview, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos asked Biden if he knew Putin and if he thought he was a killer. Biden responded, “Hmm, I do,” which most observers interpreted as a yes to both questions. Biden also twice promised that Putin would face repercussions, both for attempting to interfere in the 2020 election, on behalf of Donald Trump, and for being a killer. In response, Russia recalled its U.S. Ambassador to Moscow for consultations—a diplomatic move that says, “We are not talking to you.”
But then Russia kept talking to the United States. Putin wished Biden good health. On Thursday, Putin said, “Now, for the statement of my American colleague: How would I respond to him? I would say to him, ‘Be healthy.’ ” He smiled. “I wish him health. I say this without irony. This is not a joke.” This sounded like a threat. Some Russian observers linked Putin’s comment to the opinion—widespread in Russia, owing to the efforts of state television—that Biden is suffering from dementia, which would suggest that Putin was wishing Biden good mental health. Given that the Russian President was reacting directly to being called a killer, it is reasonable to interpret his comments as a threat.
Back in his day, Putin said, when a kid was insulted by another kid, he would reply, “That’s what you are.” Some English-language media translated the expression as “It takes one to know one,” but this is wrong; it should be translated as “I know you are.” Putin explained that the “mentality of the American establishment” was shaped by a history of settler colonialism, the genocide of Native Americans, and slavery. He reminded his audience that the U.S. was the world’s only country to have deployed nuclear weapons. Putin made these remarks at the end of a two-hour meeting with local officials in Crimea, which Russia began occupying seven years ago this week. His comments reproduced what Soviet leaders have traditionally said in response to any criticism from the U.S., and also what Donald Trump said during an interview in February, 2017, when Bill O’Reilly called Putin a killer. “You think our country is so innocent?” Trump responded. “We’ve made a lot of mistakes.”
Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that the relationship between Russia and the United States had reached a dead end. Meanwhile, the Russian ruble lost ground against the dollar and the euro. Russian financial analysts believe that the drop, one in a long string of small and large blows to the ruble, resulted from Biden’s threat to make Putin pay, which presumably made currency traders nervous.
On Thursday night, Putin, clad in a fur-lined parka worn over a fleece, recorded a short video, in which he invited Biden to have a direct conversation, but only if the U.S. President would agree to talk live, broadcasting directly to the public. He sounded as if he were asking Biden to “take this outside.” Putin has always characterized his younger self as a thug, quick-tempered and vengeful, the kind to settle disputes with a sidewalk brawl. For the proposed showdown with Biden, Putin specified that he would only be available on Monday or Friday; over the weekend, he was planning to be in the taiga. Maybe he’d be wrestling bears. (On Friday, Biden responded to Putin’s offer, when a reporter asked him about it. “I’m sure we’ll talk at some point,” he said.)
It’s rare for Putin to spend this much time speaking directly to the camera, apparently unscripted, on a single issue. One gets the feeling that he will be coming back to this topic in the days to come. Such is the effect on Putin of the U.S. President saying something that’s true, even if it’s just “Hmm, I do.”
