Putin claims Russia will support Harris in US elections
Russian leader Vladimir Putin has said that his favourite candidate in the US election was incumbent President Joe Biden, but since he has withdrawn from the race and recommended Kamala Harris, Russia will also support her.
Source: Meduza, a Latvia-based Russian news outlet, with reference to a statement by Putin at the Eastern Economic Forum on 5 September
Quote: "As for the favourite candidates, it is not for us to determine. This is the choice of the American people. Our favourite, so to speak, was Mr Biden. He has withdrawn from the race, but he recommended supporting Ms Harris. And we will do so, we will support her."
Details: Putin also said that Harris's election rival, Donald Trump, as US president, "imposed as many sanctions on Russia as any president has ever imposed before".
Quote: "Her [Harris’s – ed.] laugh is so contagious, which means that she is doing well. And if Ms Harris is doing well, she may refrain from such actions [imposing sanctions]."
Why this is important: The United States has repeatedly pointed out Russia’s interference in the US elections.
After the 2016 US presidential election, Russia was accused of supporting Donald Trump.
In June 2024, Bloomberg wrote that Russia would continue to interfere in the US elections to weaken the US and its support for Ukraine.
On 4 September, the US authorities imposed sanctions on the leadership of RT, a Kremlin-aligned Russian channel (including editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan) and the hacker group RaHDit for interfering in the 2024 presidential election.
The current US President Joe Biden demonstrates active support for Ukraine in countering Russian aggression.
Biden repeatedly called Putin a "war criminal" and a "brutal tyrant" and publicly condemned Russia's attacks on civilian populated areas in Ukraine.
At the same time, Putin's associates, including Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, who conveys the Kremlin's position, have repeatedly threatened the West for supporting Ukraine. He also stooped to low insults in all his messages, often focusing on Biden's age, which is 10 years older than Medvedev's boss Putin.
The former US president has repeatedly claimed that he had a "plan" to restore peace in Ukraine within 24 hours if he became president again. In November 2023, Volodymyr Zelenskyy invited Trump to visit Ukraine. However, Trump refused, referring to a "conflict of interest" with the current US President Joe Biden's administration.
After his success at the Iowa Republican caucuses in mid-January, Trump reiterated that he would end the war "very quickly" if he wins the election. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy once again invited Trump to Ukraine.
Putin's administration claimed they had no idea how former US President Donald Trump can stop Russia's aggression against Ukraine, and there had been no contacts between Russian diplomats and the US politician on this issue.
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