Washington, US President Joe Biden has said he has "no good reason" to talk to Vladimir Putin at this time unless the Russian leader changes his behavior.
The 81-year-old president made the remarks Thursday at a much-anticipated solo news conference at the end of the NATO Summit in Washington.
“I have no good reason to talk to Putin right now. "There's not much he's willing to do in terms of adapting to any changes in his behavior, but there's no world leader he's not prepared to deal with," Biden told reporters when asked if he was ready to talk to Putin. .
“But I understand his general point is: Is Putin ready to talk? "I'm not ready to talk to Putin unless Putin is ready to change his behavior and the idea: Look, Putin has a problem," Biden said, dismissing concerns about his health despite a growing list of Democratic leaders urging him to step aside from the 2024 presidential elections after last month's disastrous debate with his Republican rival, Donald Trump.
"First of all, in this war they supposedly won and, by the way, I think I will not force myself to give the exact number, but I think Russia had 17.3 percent of Ukraine that it has conquered, now it is 17.4, I mean, in terms of percentage of territory,” he said.
“They haven't had much success. They have caused horrific damage and loss of life, but they have also lost more than 350,000 soldiers, soldiers, dead or wounded. They have more than a million people, particularly young people with technical skills, leaving Russia because they don't see any future there. “They have a problem,” the president said.
“But what they do have control over is that they are very good at controlling and managing public outcry related to the way they use mechanisms to communicate with people. They lie like hell to the voters. They lie like hell about what's going on. So the idea that we are going to be able to fundamentally change Russia in the short term is not likely,” he told reporters.
"But one thing is for sure. If we allow Russia to succeed in Ukraine, they will not stop in Ukraine... I am prepared to talk to any leader who wants to talk, even if Putin calls me and wants to talk. The last time I spoke with Putin I was trying to get him to work on an arms control agreement related to nuclear weapons and space. That didn’t go very far,” he said.
“So what I want to say is that I am willing to talk to anyone, but I don't see any inclination. There is an inclination on the part of the Chinese to keep in touch with me because they are not sure where this is all going. Look at what happened in Asia. “We have strengthened the Asia-Pacific area more than anyone else,” he stated.
“I asked our NATO allies to bring in the South Pacific group, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Australia. I have met twice so far, with the 14 leaders of the Pacific island nations, and we have stopped what is happening there. We have slowed down China's reach. But there is a lot of work to do. “This is a moving target and I do not take it lightly,” Biden said.
He used the news conference to forcefully defend his domestic and foreign policies and dismissed questions about his ability to serve another four years, declaring: "I'm not in this for my legacy. I'm in this to get the job done. "
There have been concerns about Biden's ability to serve another four-year term as president since his faltering performance in a presidential debate against Donald Trump last month.
Age and mental fitness have recently become a major issue in the US presidential race.
While the issue has worried President Biden and his Republican rival Trump, 78, in the past, things reached a tipping point after Biden's disastrous debate performance last month.
While Biden is the oldest president in US history, Trump, if elected in November, would be the second oldest.
The 81-year-old president made the remarks Thursday at a much-anticipated solo news conference at the end of the NATO Summit in Washington.
“I have no good reason to talk to Putin right now. "There's not much he's willing to do in terms of adapting to any changes in his behavior, but there's no world leader he's not prepared to deal with," Biden told reporters when asked if he was ready to talk to Putin. .
“But I understand his general point is: Is Putin ready to talk? "I'm not ready to talk to Putin unless Putin is ready to change his behavior and the idea: Look, Putin has a problem," Biden said, dismissing concerns about his health despite a growing list of Democratic leaders urging him to step aside from the 2024 presidential elections after last month's disastrous debate with his Republican rival, Donald Trump.
"First of all, in this war they supposedly won and, by the way, I think I will not force myself to give the exact number, but I think Russia had 17.3 percent of Ukraine that it has conquered, now it is 17.4, I mean, in terms of percentage of territory,” he said.
“They haven't had much success. They have caused horrific damage and loss of life, but they have also lost more than 350,000 soldiers, soldiers, dead or wounded. They have more than a million people, particularly young people with technical skills, leaving Russia because they don't see any future there. “They have a problem,” the president said.
“But what they do have control over is that they are very good at controlling and managing public outcry related to the way they use mechanisms to communicate with people. They lie like hell to the voters. They lie like hell about what's going on. So the idea that we are going to be able to fundamentally change Russia in the short term is not likely,” he told reporters.
"But one thing is for sure. If we allow Russia to succeed in Ukraine, they will not stop in Ukraine... I am prepared to talk to any leader who wants to talk, even if Putin calls me and wants to talk. The last time I spoke with Putin I was trying to get him to work on an arms control agreement related to nuclear weapons and space. That didn’t go very far,” he said.
“So what I want to say is that I am willing to talk to anyone, but I don't see any inclination. There is an inclination on the part of the Chinese to keep in touch with me because they are not sure where this is all going. Look at what happened in Asia. “We have strengthened the Asia-Pacific area more than anyone else,” he stated.
“I asked our NATO allies to bring in the South Pacific group, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Australia. I have met twice so far, with the 14 leaders of the Pacific island nations, and we have stopped what is happening there. We have slowed down China's reach. But there is a lot of work to do. “This is a moving target and I do not take it lightly,” Biden said.
He used the news conference to forcefully defend his domestic and foreign policies and dismissed questions about his ability to serve another four years, declaring: "I'm not in this for my legacy. I'm in this to get the job done. "
There have been concerns about Biden's ability to serve another four-year term as president since his faltering performance in a presidential debate against Donald Trump last month.
Age and mental fitness have recently become a major issue in the US presidential race.
While the issue has worried President Biden and his Republican rival Trump, 78, in the past, things reached a tipping point after Biden's disastrous debate performance last month.
While Biden is the oldest president in US history, Trump, if elected in November, would be the second oldest.
