"He will pay": Biden calls Putin a "murderer"

"He will pay"
Biden calls Putin a "murderer"

The relationship between the USA and Russia has reached a new low point: after intelligence reports about electoral interference in Trump's favor, the new US president is threatening the Kremlin chief. And Biden makes it clear: he thinks Putin is a murderer. Moscow reacts indignantly.

US President Joe Biden considers the Russian head of state Vladimir Putin to be a "murderer". In an interview with ABC News, Biden also said Putin would "pay" for trying to undermine his 2020 presidential candidacy. Biden was asked in the interview if he believed that Putin "is a murderer" – the new US president replied: "I do." Biden gave no further details and did not make it clear whether he was referring to the case of the attempted poisoning of the Kremlin critic Alexander Navalny.

Moscow reacted immediately and sharply to Biden's statements. "Putin is our president and an attack on him is an attack on our country," wrote the President of the Russian House of Commons, Vyacheslav Volodin, on the Telegram online service. The influential Putin confidante added, referring to the Biden statements: "This is hysteria due to powerlessness."

Kremlin rejects allegations of electoral interference

It was only on Tuesday that the US authorities published a new report according to which Russia interfered in the 2020 US presidential election – and not just in the 2016 election in favor of the elected President Donald Trump. Since taking office in January, Biden has taken a much tougher stance towards Moscow than his predecessor, who is accused of being too close to the Kremlin chief.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov rejected the report on the US election as "completely unfounded and unfounded". "We consider this report to be false," said Peskow. The Kremlin regretted the publication of the report, which would serve as an "excuse" for possible new sanctions against Moscow.

Attacks on US electoral infrastructure

The US Department of Homeland Security and Justice had previously announced that, according to the US authorities, Russia and Iran had attacked the election infrastructure for the US presidential election on November 3. The attackers succeeded in "compromising the security of several networks that managed some optional functions". The foreign actors did not succeed in influencing the election result.

The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Riabkov also described the US report as "unfounded". He told the state news agency Ria Novosti that "hostile steps against Russia" had become "normal" in Washington. Moscow is accused of meddling in the 2016 US election to help Donald Trump win. After Biden's election victory, Putin congratulated him as one of the last heads of state and government.

Relations between the US and Russia have been at a low point since the end of the Cold War, partly because of the Navalny case. The Kremlin critic was the victim of a poison attack in Russia in August and was subsequently treated in hospital in Germany. He was arrested immediately after his return to Russia in January and shortly thereafter sentenced to prison for alleged violations of his probation requirements. At the beginning of March, the US imposed sanctions on the head of the Russian domestic intelligence service, Alexander Bortniko, and several Putin confidants because of the Navalny case.

US withdrawal from Afghanistan: "May 1st will be difficult"

In the ABC interview, Biden also commented on the withdrawal plans from Afghanistan. He considers a complete withdrawal of US soldiers from Afghanistan on May 1 to be "difficult", but possible. "It can happen, but it is difficult," said Biden when asked about the deal with the radical Islamic Taliban. Biden announced that he would announce his decision on the matter shortly. He was "in the process of making the decision on the time of withdrawal," said the US President. He will announce it after consultations with the US allies and the government in Kabul. Biden criticized the agreements made with the Taliban under his predecessor as "not very solid". Trump had kept to the agreements and reduced the US troop strength in Afghanistan to 2,500 soldiers.

The agreement signed in February 2020 stipulates that all foreign troops will withdraw from Afghanistan by May 1 – provided that the Taliban provide reliable security guarantees, such as the end of ties to the extremist network Al-Qaeda. Washington is now accusing the Taliban of failing to adhere to the terms of the agreement. Biden has ordered a review of the agreement.

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