‘Absolutely absurd’: Putin rejects Biden’s warning that Russia could attack NATO

American warnings that Russia could launch an attack on NATO’s eastern flank are “absolutely” absurd” and designed only to justify more U.S. financial support for Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday.

In an interview with Russia’s Rossiya-1 news outlet, the Russian leader fired back at President Biden’s recent warning that Russian forces could eventually move into Europe and EVEN potentially attack U.S. troops stationed there.

Mr. Biden made those remarks as part of his public justification for a $61.4 billion financial aid package for Ukraine. That plan remains stalled in Congress as Republicans demand that Washington and Kyiv provide a roadmap for how the Ukraine-Russia war eventually ends.

Mr. Biden has not provided such a roadmap but has stressed that U.S.dollars are a key element in keeping Russia from defeating Ukraine and pressing deeper into Europe.

But Mr. Putin said that is little more than fantasy.

“This is absolutely absurd. I believe that President Biden is aware of this. This is merely a figure of speech to support his incorrect strategy against Russia,” Mr. Putin said, according to Russian state-controlled media.

Mr. Biden laid out the nightmarish scenario during remarks at the White House earlier this month.

“If Putin takes Ukraine, he won’t stop there. It’s important to see the long run here. He’s going to keep going. He’s made that pretty clear,” the president said on Dec. 8. “If Putin attacks a NATO ally — if he keeps going and then he attacks a NATO ally — well, we’ve committed as a NATO member that we’d defend every inch of NATO territory. Then we’ll have something that we don’t seek and that we don’t have today: American troops fighting Russian troops, American troops fighting Russian troops if he moves into other parts of NATO.”

Republicans in the House are demanding that the president articulate a clear path to victory for Ukraine before they sign off on the administration’s $61.4 billion funding request. Republicans in both the House and Senate also want more money for U.S.-Mexico border security as part of any Ukraine funding package.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Washington last week to press for more U.S. funding. Since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022, the U.S. has given Ukraine $111 billion.