Joe Biden believes Vladimir Putin is a “rational actor” who has “totally miscalculated” the invasion of Ukraine and the suppression of its people.
The US president told CNN Tonight with Jake Tapper that Putin wrongly believed that Ukrainians would submit to Russian forces and ridiculed his claims that the Eastern European country belongs to the Kremlin.
While Mr Biden said he believed Putin was rational, he said his aims in Ukraine and claims to Kyiv’s territory were fanciful.
Mr Biden said: “I think he is a rational actor who has miscalculated significantly.
“You listen to what he says. If you listen to the speech he made after when that decision was being made, he talked about the whole idea of – he was needed to be the leader of Russia that united all of Russian speakers.
“I mean, it’s just… I just think it’s irrational.”
Mr Biden added: “I think he thought he was going to be welcomed with open arms, that this was the home of Mother Russia in Kyiv, and that where he was going to be welcomed, and I think he just totally miscalculated.”
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