President Joe Biden on Thursday U.S. weapons would not be used to strike Moscow or the Kremlin while giving a fierce critique of Russian President Vladimir Putin during an interview with ABC News.
Speaking to David Muir at the Normandy American Cemetery on the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Biden said the weapons would not be authorized to be used to target Russia’s capital city or government.
“They’re authorized to be used in proximity to the border when they’re being used on the other side of the border to attack specific targets in Ukraine,” Biden said. “We’re not authorizing strikes 200 miles into Russia and we’re not authorizing strikes on Moscow, on the Kremlin.”
On Wednesday, Putin warned Western countries they’re taking a “very serious and dangerous step” by supplying weapons to Ukraine.
“Supplying weapons to a conflict zone is always a bad thing,” Putin told editors from international news agencies at the annual economic forum in St. Petersburg. “Especially if this is linked to the fact that those who supply them are not only delivering weapons but managing them.”
Muir asked Biden about those remarks.
“I’ve known him for over 40 years. He’s concerned me for 40 years. He’s not a decent man,” Biden said. “He’s a dictator, and he’s struggling to make sure he holds his country together while still keeping this assault going.”
“We’re not talking about giving them weapons to strike Moscow, to strike the Kremlin, to strike against — just across the border, where they’re receiving significant fire from conventional weapons used by the Russians to go into Ukraine to kill Ukrainians,” he added.
Biden’s full interview with ABC News will air on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. ET.
