During a Wednesday night fundraiser in San Francisco, Biden said: “We have a crazy SOB like that guy Putin, and others, and we always have to worry about nuclear conflict, but the existential threat to humanity is climate.” 

“He can’t tell me, ‘Volodya, well done, thanks, you helped me a lot.’ … This reaction is absolutely adequate,” Putin said in the Thursday interview. 

Speaking about what is best for Russia, Putin added, smiling: “I’ve said it once and can repeat: Biden.” 

During a recent interview with U.S. conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson, Putin said he couldn’t remember the last time he spoke with Biden, guessing it was before Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. 

Putin noted he had a “personal relationship” with Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, but in another interview stated that Biden was an old-school politician, and was therefore preferable to Russia. 

Biden has not held back in criticizing Putin, even calling him a killer in 2021. “It takes one to know one,” Putin responded. 

Sergey Goryashko is hosted at POLITICO under the EU-funded EU4FreeMedia residency program.