US President Joe Biden confirmed on Tuesday that he sees no good reason to meet with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, in response to a question in an interview with CNN if he would meet with Putin at the G-20 summit. which will take place next month in Indonesia.
Biden said it “will depend on what he (Putin) specifically wants to talk about,” adding that “if Putin wanted to discuss the case of imprisoned NBA star Britney Grenier, he would be willing to talk” with him.
But Biden stressed that Putin “behaved brutally, I think he committed war crimes. So I don’t see the point in meeting him now.”
“He underestimated the capabilities of his troops”
Biden said Putin “underestimated” his forces’ ability to occupy Ukraine, stressing that his “calculations were completely wrong” about the Ukrainian “resistance” he expected to face.
“I think he (Putin) is a rational person who has miscalculated badly,” he added in an interview with the American news network CNN, excerpts from which were shown hours before full airing on Tuesday evening.
US President Joe Biden said Tuesday that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin “underestimated” his troops’ ability to occupy Ukraine, stressing that his “calculations were completely wrong” about the Ukrainian “resistance” he expected to face.
Biden explained that Putin “thought he would be received with open arms, but I think his calculation was completely wrong”, considering this “a miscalculation that was refuted by fierce resistance at home:”.
“I think the rhetoric and its goals were irrational,” Biden said. “I think he (Putin) thought he would be welcomed with open arms, that this is Mother Russia’s home in Kyiv, that he would be welcomed, and I think that he completely miscalculated.”