President Biden said Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “not a decent man” but “a dictator” who has worried him for decades, while also addressing a shift in U.S. policy that allows Ukraine attack near Russia’s border with American weapons.
Biden made the comments in an interview with ABC World News anchor David Muir while in Normandy, France, to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. Muir asked Biden about the recent decision to authorize Ukraine to use U.S. weapons to attack targets within of Russia, more than two years after Moscow launched an invasion of its neighbor.
“They are authorized to be used in close proximity to the border when they are being used across the border to attack specific targets in Ukraine,” Biden said. “We are not authorizing attacks within 200 miles of Russia, and we are not authorizing attacks on Moscow, on the Kremlin.”
Asked if he was concerned about Putin’s rhetoric that the move amounted to U.S. participation in war, Biden said the Russian leader “has worried me for 40 years.”
“He is not a decent man. He is a dictator and he is fighting to make sure he keeps his country together and at the same time continues this attack,” Biden said. “We’re not talking about giving them weapons to attack Moscow, to attack the Kremlin, to attack – across the border, where they are taking significant fire from conventional weapons used by the Russians to enter Ukraine and kill Ukrainians.”
Biden’s comments are his latest harsh criticism of Putin amid Russia’s war in Ukraine. The US president has previously suggested that Putin “cannot stay in power” and referred to him as a “crazy son of a bitch”.
Rallying allies to support Ukraine has been a central part of Biden’s foreign policy during his first term, even as some Republicans, led by former President Trump, backed away from continued U.S. support for Kiev.
Biden, in remarks in Normandy on Thursday, directly connected the fighting in World War II to the importance of maintaining alliances today.
“The struggle between a dictatorship and freedom is never-ending,” he said. “Surrendering to bullies, bowing to dictators is simply unthinkable. If we did that, it would mean we would be forgetting what happened here on these sacred shores.”
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
