Responding to President Joe Biden’s comments that he is a “killer,” Russian President Vladimir Putin retorted Thursday, saying it takes one killer to know another.
Putin also wished his 78-year-old counterpart “good health,” adding, “I say that without irony and not as a joke,” The Washington Post reported.
Biden was speaking with ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos in a Wednesday interview. When asked by Stephanopoulos if he thought Putin was a killer, Biden replied, “I do,” describing the Russian president as lacking a soul. (RELATED: Biden: Putin A ‘Killer,’ Will’ Pay A Price’ For Interfering In 2020 Election)
The interview followed the Tuesday release of a U.S. intelligence report accusing Russia of engaging in a campaign of undermining public confidence in the U.S. election system and spreading discord among Americans.
Biden also said in the interview that Putin would pay the price for alleged Russian interference in the 2020 election, which Russia denies, Reuters reported.
Prior to Biden’s statements, Putin and his associates have been suspected of assassinating several political rivals, according to Business Insider.
In a Thursday response to Biden’s statements, Putin suggested that Biden, through his statements, was being hypocritical, projecting his own flaws onto others, according to Reuters.
Putin further stated that every country has to deal with “bloody events,” and that Biden was accusing Putin of something he could be accused of himself.
“I remember in my childhood, when we argued in the courtyard with each other we used to say: it takes one to know one. And that’s not a coincidence, not just a children’s saying or joke. The psychological meaning here is very deep,” said Putin.
“We always see our own traits in other people and think they are like how we really are. And as a result we assess (a person’s) activities and give assessments,” he added.
On Wednesday, Konstantin Kosachyov, deputy chairman of the Sovfed, the Russian parliament’s upper house, said that Russia seeks an apology from the U.S. over Biden’s statements.
“President Biden called Putin a killer yesterday. His confidence could’ve been put to a better use,” began Kosachyov in a Facebook post Wednesday.
The deputy chairman then went on to say that Biden’s “value judgments are unacceptable for a politician of such a high rank,” adding that regardless of circumstances, “they inevitably lead to a deterioration of the bilateral relations.”
Lauding Putin’s decision to recall the Russian ambassador to the U.S. hours after Biden said his words as “a befitting response,” Kosachyov said he suspects “that it was not the last measure if the U.S. does not apologize.”
Referring specifically to Biden’s claim that Putin was a “killer,” the parliamentarian said, “this position was taken by the president of the [United States] that, according to professional estimates, bombs someplace on the planet every 12 minutes. As a result, since 2001, the deaths of 500 thousand people have been associated with the actions of the U.S. Will you comment on that, Mr. Biden?”
The Obama administration has been criticized for its drone strikes that killed several innocent civilians, including American citizens, in regions such as Pakistan, according to The Atlantic and The Washington Post.
Responding to a question at a Thursday press conference, following Putin’s reply, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that Biden has no regrets calling Putin a “killer,” adding that he “gave a direct answer to a direct question.”