Putin says Joe Biden playing into Russia’s hands, denies interfering in White House race

Russian leader Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Democratic hopeful Joseph R. Biden is “playing into our hands” by accusing Republican incumbent President Trump of acting beholden to the Kremlin.

Mr. Putin made the remark in an interview released by the Kremlin in response to a question posed to the longtime Russian president involving the White House race between Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden.

Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin noted during the interview that Mr. Biden referred to Mr. Trump as “Putin’s puppy” when the two candidates faced off in their first presidential debate last month.

“By the way, when anyone tries to humiliate or insult the incumbent head of state, in this case in the context you have mentioned, this actually enhances our prestige, because they are talking about our incredible influence and power,” Mr. Putin replied, according to an English translation released by the Kremlin.

“In a way, it could be said that they are playing into our hands, as the saying goes,” Mr. Putin continued, according to the Kremlin. “But anyway, as I have already pointed out, this is none of our business. Let them settle scores with each other as they deem possible in the current context.”

Mr. Putin also denied again that Russia is actively interfering in the White House race, contrary to the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion otherwise.

“We are the onlookers; we do not interfere in the process,” Mr. Putin said, according to the Kremlin. “Everything that is happening in the United States is the result of the country’s internal political processes and problems.”

Mr. Biden called his rival “Putin’s puppy” during last month’s debate while noting Mr. Trump reportedly failed to raise concerns with counterpart in the Kremlin about intelligence suggesting Russia offered bounties for terrorists to kill U.S. troops. The White House has dismissed the intelligence as unverified.

U.S. intelligence officials have assessed that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election won by Mr. Trump by attacking his Democratic rival in the race, Hillary Clinton.

More recently, the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence under the Trump administration has warned that Russia is actively trying to denigrate Mr. Biden leading up to Election Day.