Putin: US wants to suppress Russia
Less than two weeks from a first face-to-face with President Joe Biden in Geneva, Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday criticised the US prosecution of rioters who took part in the January attack on the Capitol, calling it an example of American ‘‘double standards.’’
The comments are likely to add to the pessimism in both Moscow and Washington that the June 16 summit will lead to a breakthrough between the two countries. Relations remain deeply strained over issues such as cyberattacks that Western intelligence says originate in Russia.
Meanwhile, Putin yesterday claimed that the United States wants to ‘‘suppress’’ Russia.
He suggested the agenda for the summit with Biden could cover issues of potential common ground, such as climate, the pandemic, disarmament and combating terrorism.
That differed from Biden’s preview of the summit last week, when he said he would press Putin on
human rights abuses such as Russia’s treatment of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny. In response, the Kremlin has attempted to draw an equivalency to the US treatment of the Capitol rioters. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called it a ‘‘persecution’’ earlier this week.
‘‘These are not looters or thieves, these people came with political requests,’’ Putin said of the proTrump mobs that stormed the Capitol on January 6.
The moderator at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum then asked Putin to clarify if he was defending the rioters, adding in a joking tone that the comments could lead to Putin ‘‘being banned online.’’
‘‘I’m not giving any evaluations to the actual event. I’m talking about what followed after,’’ he said, adding that he does ‘‘not give a damn’’ if he is banned from social media sites.
Applause from
About 500 people have been charged in the investigation into the crowd followed. the Capitol riot for offences such as assaulting police officers, violent entry to Congress and disorderly conduct. In a separate interview with state television after his session at the St Petersburg conference, Putin called Biden ‘‘a very experienced man. He has been in politics all his life. He is experienced, I hope, and very sensible and careful as a person.’’
‘‘I very much hope that our meeting will be positive,’’ Putin added. ‘‘I don’t expect any breakthrough in Russian-US relations, anything that could amaze us all with its results.’’
One subject that could come up between the leaders is Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko after Putin did nothing to break ranks with his strongman ally.
Lukashenko last month sparked international outrage for forcing down a civilian jetliner flying over Belarus last month to arrest an opposition journalist, Roman Protasevich, who was on board.