This week, after a meeting with President Joe Biden, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the U.S. leader’s fitness for office, insisting that Biden is “collected, knows what he wants to achieve and does it adroitly,” according to Bloomberg. Putin made those remarks in response to a question from a Russian Senator named Maria Lvova-Belova, who is a member of the Russian leader’s political party. Putin’s characterization of Biden as adroit — meaning adept at achieving his goals — stands in stark contrast to claims from certain leading Republicans that Biden has diminished mental capacity. On a similar note, Lvova-Belova had asked Putin about whether Biden was experiencing “dementia,” as she put it.
Besides his other comments about Biden, Putin added as follows (according to the Bloomberg report):
‘The image of President Biden that our, and even American, media present has nothing to do with reality. Biden’s a professional, you have to be very attentive with him so as not to miss anything. He doesn’t let anything get by, I assure you.’
Putin even defended Biden’s usage of notes, saying “we all do that.” Some observers have suggested that Biden’s usage of notes for reference during certain interactions with foreign leaders is somehow indicative of ineptitude. In reality, wouldn’t it be ideal for a president of the United States to make doubly sure that they’re both prepared and presenting their positions as carefully as possible? Ex-President Donald Trump’s repeated refusals to meaningfully engage with the information in front of him didn’t automatically make it taboo or meaningfully dubious for presidents to take the opposite approach.
At a press conference following his meeting with Putin, Biden insisted that his “agenda is not against Russia” — but he did make abundantly clear that he foresees serious consequences in the event of, say, the death of Putin critic Alexei Navalny, who has been jailed by the Putin regime after surviving a poisoning attempt. Biden also pressured Putin over cybersecurity in the wake of continued aggression on that front from Russian interests. While out of the country, Biden also met with allies of the United States like leaders of both the European Union and individual countries including France.
