Western officials were puzzled when Putin said that he would rather prefer to deal with Biden as US President rather than Donald Trump.
Earlier this week, Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin asked Russian President Vladimir Putin whom he would prefer to see as the next US President, Joe Biden or Donald Trump.
"Biden is better for Russia than Trump, because he is an experienced old school and more predictable politician,” Putin said.
The Russian President does not consider Biden physically incapable:
"When I met with Biden in Switzerland — although it was several years ago — some people were already talking that he was not capable of working. I did not notice anything like that."
According to Putin, Biden would peak into his papers and so would Putin. Speaking about all those Biden gaffes, Putin said: "whoever in our country hasn't bumped his head on a helicopter, let him be the first to throw a rock at me.”
Western media were puzzled by Putin's remarks. They could not tell whether Putin was being sincere or he was trolling Biden.
BBC journalist Steve Rosenberg recalled that Biden earlier called Putin a "killer dictator” and accused him of having "craven lust for land and power.” The journalist doubts that the Kremlin has forgiven Biden for everything.
Putin's remarks could be a clever move to support Trump as the Republican candidate in order to exclude any accusations of collusion with the Kremlin, as has happened before, Rosenberg assumes.
The prevailing view in the US is that Putin is covertly involved in Trump's election campaign, and Trump knows it.
This opinion is based on how the Trump voter sees the situation:
"Under Obama, Putin snatched Crimea, under Biden Putin invaded Ukraine, and under Trump he did not dare to commit aggression. Trump will return and show again the American power that Putin does not need.”
That is, the Trumpist takes these statements by Putin seriously, and Trump plays along with this opinion. In his opinion, "I got along very well with Putin in the past, but he clearly doesn't like me and prefers Biden.”
"Biden will give Ukraine to Putin,” Trump said at a rally in South Carolina.
The White House responded with a warning that Putin "should stay out of our elections."
The sitting US administration is actively opposing Russia and intends to continue to do so, John Kirby said at a briefing.
Russia does benefit from dealing with Biden as US President, not only because he is predictable.
Biden is a leader who has serious problems with health and capacity. Putin denies this fact in order to clear himself of accusations of bias or deliberate lies ("I'm not a doctor”). Biden will not be attending the Munich Security Conference — Vice President Kamala Harris flew to Munich instead.
This is a manifestation of outright weakness, and any country gets weaker with a weak leader. This makes satellites and foreign allies look around and triggers centrifugal processes in regions, such as Texas. Russia benefits from Biden, because he is demolishing the United States and its international reputation.