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MOSCOW (AP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday (October 7) that he had noticed what he called “sharp anti-Russian rhetoric” from US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, but that Biden’s remarks about control of arms encouraged him.
Putin, in comments on state television ahead of the November 3 US presidential election, said Russia would work with any American leader, but praised Republican President Donald Trump for saying he wanted better ties with Moscow.
“Of course we value this,” said Putin, who also once again denied Washington’s accusation of Russian interference in the US elections.
He said a bipartisan American consensus on the need to contain Russia had curbed the possibility of that happening, but that nonetheless much had been done and that bilateral trade had grown despite US sanctions and the pandemic.
“As far as the Democratic Party candidate is concerned … we also see quite sharp anti-Russian rhetoric. Unfortunately, we are used to this,” Putin said in an appearance on state television.
But he added that Biden had made what he considered encouraging statements about New START, the last major nuclear weapons pact between Russia and the United States, which expires in February.
So far, Moscow and Washington have not been able to agree on a new treaty or an extension, although Trump’s envoy for arms control said Tuesday that “important progress” had been made in the bilateral talks.
“Candidate Biden said publicly that he was ready for an extension of New START or to reach a new treaty to limit … strategic weapons, and this is a very serious element of our cooperation going forward,” Putin said.
Last month, Putin proposed a cyber restart of ties with Washington and called for a bilateral agreement that they would not engage in cyber meddling in each other’s elections.
On Wednesday, he said Washington had ignored that proposal.
“Unfortunately … there has been no response on this … very important issue, although there are continuous complaints against us about our apparent hyperactivity … interfering in the elections … that they are completely unfounded.”
