NBC: Biden Privately Calls Putin 'Guy With Nuclear Weapons And No Friends' NBC sources said Biden has privately referred to Putin as 'Guy With Nuclear Weapons And No Friends'. He also spoke jokingly about Macron, Johnson and Scholz. The US Security Council denied such statements
Joe Biden
US President Joe Biden, during private meetings, jokingly spoke about the leaders of the countries involved in resolving the Ukrainian crisis, as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin, NBC reports, citing sources.
In particular, Biden described Putin as “a guy with nuclear weapons and no friends,” writes NBC. German Chancellor Olaf Scholze, he, according to the channel's interlocutors, said that this was “not Angela Merkel”, but called British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's demeanor “noisy”. In addition, the American leader believes that French President Emmanuel Macron “wants to be Charles de Gaulle,” the sources said.
US National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne told NBC that these “anonymous rumors in no way reflect what the president says or thinks about his colleagues, whom he respects and appreciates.
In March, Biden gave an interview to ABC News, during which he was asked if he thought Putin was a killer. “Mmm, yes,” — the President replied.
Commenting on Biden's statement, Putin said that he wished him good health, and clarified that he was saying this “without irony and without jokes.” “If we talk more about this topic, then here is what I would like to say. When we evaluate other people or when we evaluate other states, other peoples, we always look in the mirror, we always see ourselves. We always transfer to another person what we ourselves are, what we ourselves breathe, — he added.
“I remember: in childhood, when we argued with each other in the yard, we said this:” Whoever calls himself that is called that. And this is not accidental, this is not just a joke, the psychological meaning in this is very deep,— Putin continued.— We always see our own qualities in another person and think that he is the same as we are. Based on this, we evaluate his actions.
In June, before the summit with Putin in Geneva, Biden was asked if he continued to consider the Russian president a murderer. “I believe that in the past he basically admitted that he had certain things he could do or did. But listen, when I was asked this question on the air, I answered honestly, — said the President of the United States.
Putin later said that after the interview with ABC News, Biden called him and they “explained themselves.” According to the Russian leader, these explanations suited him.
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