Russian media apparently sees Biden as a shrewd statesman, not a bumbling dotard, after Putin meeting
We probably won't know for a while whether President Biden's sit-down with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva this week produced any tangible benefits for the U.S. But Biden did accomplish one thing, at least: Russia's pro-Kremlin media no longer views him as a dotard.
For months, Russian state media ridiculed Biden "as bumbling, confused, and well past his prime," The New York Times reports. "But by Thursday, the mood had shifted: Here was a man in the White House, some said, who understands us, whom we can do business with." And leading the change in narrative was Putin himself.
"I want to say that the image of President Biden that our and even the American press paints has nothing to do with reality," Putin told university graduates in Moscow on Thursday. "He's a professional, and you have to be very careful in working with him to make sure you don't miss anything. He doesn't miss anything, I can assure you."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Biden's main tricks for turning around his image in Russia were, apparently, flattery and evident competence. Biden's description of Putin as a "worthy adversary" caught Moscow's attention, as did his description of the U.S. and Russia as "two great powers." America's "earlier doctrine, put forward by President Obama, which dismissed Russia as just a regional power, has been rejected," said Nezavisimaya Gazeta editor Konstantin Remchukov said on state-run Channel One.
And if Biden was more respectful of Russia's place in the world than Obama, he was also seen more a more predictable, professional, and effective head of government than former President Donald Trump. "The leaders' meeting fully justified the most optimistic expectations and delivered the most results of any in the last decades of the relationship between the powers," commentator Timofey Bordachev wrote in Vzglyad, a pro-Putin outlet. "Biden, believe it or not, looks to be the first American president in 30 years who is playing a 'long game.'"
Biden "is the first post-Cold-War U.S. president who has adequate notions of what Russia is and what it wants, and what the United States can and cannot do about it," Kadri Liik, a Russia specialist at Berlin's European Council on Foreign Relations, told the Times. "Biden has been positioning himself very skillfully."
Putin, it should be noted, still isn't very popular in the U.S. — although according to one new poll, he's more popular than Biden among Trump voters.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Harriet Tubman made a general 161 years after raid
Speed Read She was the first woman to oversee an American military action during a time of war
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Chappell Roan is a new kind of boundary-setting celebrity
In the Spotlight She's calling out fans and the media for invasive behavior
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published
-
Saudi crown prince slams Israeli 'genocide' in Gaza
Speed Read Mohammed bin Salman has condemned Israel’s actions
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Incendiary device plot: Russia's 'rehearsals' for attacks on transatlantic flights
The Explainer Security officials warn of widespread Moscow-backed 'sabotage campaign' in retaliation for continued Western support for Ukraine
By The Week UK Published
-
What happens if Russia declares war on Nato?
Today's Big Question Fears are growing after Vladimir Putin's 'unusually specific warning' to Western governments
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Missile escalation: will long-range rockets make a difference to Ukraine?
Today's Big Question Kyiv is hoping for permission to use US missiles to strike deep into Russian territory
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Atesh: the Ukrainian partisans taking on Russia
Under The Radar Underground resistance fighters are risking their lives to defend their country
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
'Second only to a nuclear bomb' – the controversial arms Russia is using in Ukraine
The Explainer Thermobaric bombs 'capable of vaporising human bodies' have been used against Ukraine
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
The peaceful archipelago that may take up arms
Under The Radar Russia's invasion of Ukraine has left the Åland Islands 'peculiarly vulnerable'
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
What can Ukraine gain from Russia incursion?
Today's Big Question Gamble to boost morale, improve negotiating position and show the West it can still win is 'paying off – for now'
By Elliott Goat, The Week UK Published
-
Who would fight Europe's war against Russia?
Today's Big Question Western armies are struggling to recruit and retain soldiers amid fears Moscow's war in Ukraine may spread across Europe
By Abby Wilson Published