Russia has recalled its ambassador to the US in anger over comments from President Biden.
Biden agreed in a recent interview that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a “killer.”
Russia’s foreign ministry said the departure of its ambassador Anatoly Antonov comes as they analyze “what needs to be done in the context of relations with the United States.”
According to Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, this should be a warning sign to the United States that reckless comments could lead to severe and permanent damage in relations.
“We are interested in preventing an irreversible deterioration in relations, if the Americans become aware of the risks associated with this,” Zakharova said.
Russian Politicians: Biden Has Threatened Our Whole Nation
Although the Kremlin didn’t get into details about what they’ll do next, Russian politicians have been enraged since the ABC interview in which Biden says “mhmm, I do,” when asked if he believes Putin is a “killer.”
Putin spokesman Dmitri Peskov also said that Biden’s comments are “very bad” and prove that “he clearly does not want to improve relations with our country.”
Because Biden has no positive vision going forward, Peskov said “we will be proceeding based precisely on this.”
According to Biden, he does want to find “mutual” areas where Russia and the US could work together, but Russian officials such as Konstantin Kosachev who leads Russia’s Foreign Affairs Committee called Biden’s comments a “watershed moment” and said “any expectations for the new U.S. administration’s new policy toward Russia have been written off by this boorish statement.”
Kosachev added that Russia’s response is just getting started and that America had better explain and apologize as soon as possible about why Biden said that.
Meanwhile Russia’s deputy chairman of its lower house of parliament Pyotr Tolstoy said that the comments show the United States is an imperial power which only speaks one language “that is, unfortunately, the language of force,” Tolstoy said.
I leave Moscow for a few days on assignment and what happens? Britain labels Russia its top security threat, Biden confirms he thinks Putin’s “a killer” & Moscow recalls its Washington ambassador.
— Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) March 18, 2021
Putin Responds
In addition to the Russian media giving a lot of time to talking about Biden’s remarks and the population becoming increasingly angry, Putin himself responded. The Russian president wished Biden “good health” and said that “whatever you say about others is what you are yourself.”
Another top Russian politician Andrei Turchak, meanwhile said that Biden’s comments are a “challenge to our entire nation.”
Russia believes the West is backing political opposition figures to bring Putin down and is meddling in its elections. The country is also planning to block Twitter as it believes the US may be using that to undermine its government.
The West has accused Putin of trying to poison opposition leader Aleksei Navalny in Siberia and of poisoning former Russian agent Sergei Skripal in the UK in 2018.
In 2006, Putin made it legal to kill targets outside Russia, with politicians saying it was similar to what the US and Israel do and was therefore justified.
What’s Next for US-Russia Relations?
It’s been obvious from the start that Biden is fairly antagonistic to Russia, so this current controversy should come as no surprise. Coming from a party that falsely accused former President Trump of colluding with Russia from the moment he set foot in office, Biden is part of a foreign policy and political establishment that loves to stir up trouble abroad in order to distract from its own failures and wrongdoing at home.
Russia may not be America’s friend, but it doesn’t have to be America’s enemy.
Biden has now started an international crisis just by mumbling his agreement to some progressive ABC journalist’s question. Let’s hope it can be de-escalated before things become truly disastrous.
