Putin (right) and Biden during the latter’s visit to Moscow in 2011 when he was US Vice President (European)

As the United States prepares for the possibility of choosing again between current President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin received a question from a journalist about who Russia prefers to win in the potential confrontation between the two men, and the answer came in a way that may have been surprising to some.

The question came days after Biden directed harsh criticism at Putin, while Trump had previously expressed on several occasions his admiration for the Kremlin leader.

The Biden administration also recently led the provision of military aid to Ukraine in its two-year-long war against Russia.

On the other hand, the Republican candidate faced severe criticism after he recently stated that he would encourage Russia to attack any country in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), as long as this country did not pay the money it was owed to support the alliance.

However, Putin's answer was in favor of Biden, as he responded to the journalist's question by preferring Biden, and attributed this to the fact that he is a person who is "more experienced and predictable. He is from the old school."

But Putin added that he is ready to deal with whoever the winner of the US presidential elections scheduled for next November is, taking advantage of the opportunity to express his criticism of Washington’s foreign policy during the Biden era, saying, “What we must examine is the political position, and the position of the current administration is harmful to the utmost.” borderline and wrong.”

Age and mental competence

Commenting on the criticism related to Biden's age, who will turn 82 years old just weeks after the elections, Putin said, "When I met Mr. Biden 3 years ago, people were talking about his inability at the time, but I did not see anything like this," in an apparent reference to... Summit held in Geneva.

US opinion polls show that voters have real concerns about Biden's age. The issue of the American president's mental competency was exacerbated after two incidents in which he confused current European leaders with their deceased predecessors.

The White House was forced to strongly defend the president last week after a special counsel report described him as "an elderly man with a weak memory." Biden himself later responded angrily to the accusation, but later exacerbated the problem by again confusing the presidents of Egypt and Mexico.

Interestingly, Trump (77 years old) was exposed to a similar situation recently, when he also mixed up his rival for the Republican Party nomination, Nikki Haley, with former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.

Source: Al Jazeera + agencies