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Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov will likely miss the cherry blossom in the US capital Washington this spring. Instead, he has to travel back to cold Moscow to discuss the impending ice age in relations with the United States. The order to return came from the top of the Kremlin after US President Joe Biden blatantly described Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “murderer” in an interview with ABC television.
When asked if he thought the Kremlin chief was a “murderer”, Biden tersely replied, “Yes.” After Biden took office, the White House and the US State Department had repeatedly condemned the poison attack on Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and his subsequent conviction after a mock trial. Biden also said Putin “has no soul.”
“That is not a joke”
These statements so infuriated the Kremlin that, for the first time in 20 years, the government protested and called a Russian ambassador for consultations from Washington. Putin himself reacted to Biden’s accusations with his usual cynicism. “I wish you good health,” he said, adding that he meant it without irony. “That is not a joke.”
According to the findings of the US secret services, Russian troll farms spread false information about Biden’s health in the last election campaign. This was part of renewed attempts by Moscow to meddle in the presidential election, according to a US intelligence report released this week.
New Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines released a 10-page document on Tuesday explaining how Putin and his agents tried to discredit Biden in order to give Donald Trump a second term.
A harder pace is expected
In the interview, Biden announced that Russia would “pay a price” for the renewed interference. Therefore, analysts expect the new American administration to adopt a harder pace overall, but not a return from the Cold War. Biden had already indicated that he would seek cooperation with Russia on arms control, in Iran and in other areas that are in the national interest of the United States.
It will also be uncomfortable for the Germans, who also pursue economic interests in dealing with Putin. President Biden and Congress maintain the pressure to abandon the “Nord Stream 2” project in the final meters. Donald Trump asked for it too, but for different reasons. He wanted to sell American gas, while Joe Biden pursues strategic goals in Ukraine and Poland.
