Putin Blasts Biden's Claim That Russia Seeks To Attack NATO As "Complete Nonsense"
"It is complete nonsense – and I think President Biden understands that," Russia's President Putin told state television channel Rossiya in a Sunday interview, as a response to claims made earlier this month by President Biden, who claimed that Russia is eyeing an invasion of countries beyond Ukraine.
"Russia has no reason, no interest – no geopolitical interest, neither economic, political nor military – to fight with NATO countries," the Russian leader added.
He then suggested that Biden's recent rhetoric is all about stoking fears in the Western public in order to further justify his "erroneous policy" concerning the Ukraine conflict.
Biden's words had come in the context of trying to press Republicans in Congress to pass his $106 billion defense aid package - the bulk of which would go to Ukraine. Here's what the US president had said, as reported in The New York Times:
The president even raised the prospect that an emboldened Mr. Putin would pose a threat to NATO allies, requiring the United States to come to their assistance with troops on the group. “If Putin takes Ukraine, he won’t stop there,” Mr. Biden said. “It’s important to see the long run here. He’s going to keep going. He’s made their pretty clear.”
“If he keeps going and then he attacks a NATO ally” to which the United States is bound by treaty to help, “then we’ll have something that we don’t seek and that we don’t have today — American troops fighting Russian troops,” Mr. Biden said.
“Make no mistake,” he added. “Today’s vote is going to be long remembered and history’s going to judge harshly those who turn their back on freedom’s cause. We can’t let Putin win. I’ll say it again, we can’t let Putin win.”
This is all part of the usual 'emboldening Putin' narrative, by not approving the White House's foreign funding package. It's long been a Democratic and administration talking point to say that blocking Biden's request is a 'gift' to the Kremlin. Of the broader more than hundred billion dollars in funds, the president wants to see $61.4bn of that go to Ukraine support.
Also on Sunday, Putin said at an event for the ruling United Russia party that the country's very sovereignty is threatened after years of NATO expansion.
NATO’s expansion in Europe pic.twitter.com/8ETqeZIeu0
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"We must remember and never forget, and teach our children: Russia will be either a self-sufficient and sovereign state or will not exist at all. It is a very important thing, which we should keep in our minds and hearts," he said according to TASS.
