Russia has strongly condemned statements by US President Joe Biden in which he described President Vladimir Putin as a murderer, and promised to pay the price for his supposed interference in the recent US elections.
In Russia's first reaction, the head of the Russian State Duma, Vyacheslav Valudin, said Wednesday that Biden's attack on Putin was an attack on Russia.
Valudin added that Biden's statements against Putin are an insult to the Russian citizens, and express what he called the "impotence hysteria" of the US administration.
In an interview broadcast today at dawn on the ABC network, the US President vowed Russia to pay the price if it is proven that it has meddled in the US elections.
Biden said that he and President Putin know each other well, and that the Russian president should be prepared to pay the price if it is proven that he has meddled in the US elections.
He added that he did not think the leader of Russia had a heart, and when asked during the interview if he believed that Putin had fought, he said, "I think so."
Asked what consequences he intended, Biden said, "You will see soon."
Biden's pledge comes after the release of a US intelligence report that supported previous accusations that the Russian president was behind Russia's interference in the US elections, which Moscow has repeatedly denied.
The report said that Russian interference in the recent US elections was targeting Biden, who ultimately won over his Republican rival, Donald Trump.
During the same interview, Biden made it clear that he renewed the "START" agreement on reducing strategic weapons with Russia because of the interests it combines with his country.
He also indicated that he was about to make a decision on the date of the withdrawal of his country's forces from Afghanistan.
Additional damage to relationships
The Russian presidency (the Kremlin) said that the US intelligence report on Russian interference in the last US presidential elections harms the already damaged relations between Moscow and Washington.
The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov described the US accusations against his country of interfering in the recent presidential elections as media stuffing unsupported by facts.
Ryabkov said that his country is not concerned about Washington's threat to impose new sanctions against the background of this file, noting that Washington adheres to the sanctions path in a manner described as insane.
He added that the content of the US intelligence report - which was declassified on Tuesday - is designed for conclusions drawn up in advance, and is modified according to predetermined results as well, as he put it.
Regarding Britain's decision to increase its nuclear arsenal, Ryabkov believed that this decision would inflict political damage on the concept of strengthening global stability, and that Moscow would take into account when developing its military strategy what he described as this London leap.