President Biden is seen as less of a threat to Russia than British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, according to the Kremlin.
Dmitry Peskov, press secretary for Russian President Vladimir Putin, told his country’s state-run media on Thursday that of all the Western leaders, Mr. Johnson had staked out the most stringently anti-Kremlin position. The remarks were first reported by The Daily Telegraph.
“We see him as the most active participant in the race to be anti-Russian,” Mr. Peskov said. “It will lead to a foreign policy dead end.”
Mr. Biden, who as U.S. president is recognized as the leader of the free world, was not mentioned.
The slight comes as Mr. Biden is in Brussels for a trio of emergency global summits to combat Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As part of the trip, Mr. Biden will discuss efforts to aid Ukraine with NATO and European Union leaders.
Earlier this month, Mr. Biden pushed through an emergency $13.6 billion aid package to provide Ukraine with military and humanitarian assistance.
“We’re going to give Ukraine the arms to fight and defend themselves through all the difficult days ahead,” said Mr. Biden. “We’re going to continue to mobilize humanitarian relief to support people within Ukraine and those who have been forced to flee Ukraine.”
Critics say that the White House is not doing enough. Sen. Ted Cruz has accused the Biden administration of delaying support to Ukraine while Russia built up troops on the border in preparation for the Feb. 24 invasion and criticized the president’s recent veto of a deal to send Polish MiG fighter jets to Ukraine.
“The reason for that is President Biden and his entire team is resigned to failure in this war,” said Mr. Cruz, Texas Republican. “They do not believe victory is possible and so they are trying to manage defeat. They’re not trying to win the war.”
Similarly, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy slammed the U.S. and NATO for not taking “real action” to help defend his country.
• Jeff Mordock and Mica Soellner contributed to this report.
• Haris Alic can be reached at halic@washingtontimes.com.
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