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The entire "Great Game" program was devoted to the consequences of President Biden's response to ABC host George Stephanopoulos' question: "Do you think Putin is a killer?" with Biden's answer, "mm-hmm, I do."
Moderator Vyacheslav Nikonov called Biden's remark "boorish," and then cut to President Putin's response, in which he sarcastically wished Biden good health (his tone, at least to my ears, implying that something might be wrong President Biden), and reverted to schoolboy insults along the lines of whatever you say about me you are really saying about yourself because you are looking in a mirror -- hence, the program's "distorted mirror" title.
Moderator Dmitriy Simes commented that since the ABC interview with Biden was recorded, his remark could have been edited out. That would seem to indicate that Biden's comment on Putin was calculated. He asked MGIMO professor Andrey Sushentsov whether he thought Biden's response was just, as some thought, a case of senility, or an unfortunate consequence of his unusual demeanor, or something worse. Sushentsov thought it might have been calculated, and could represent the first step in putting US-Russian relations on hold, as the Americans had no real plans for Russia over the next four years.
Duma Committee Chairman Aleksey Pushkov said that what Biden did was totally unacceptable. He would be better off shutting up and just "chewing gum." He enjoys showing off, he has Freudian complexes. He then repeated the standard Russian disinformation on Burisma/Shokin/Biden.
Pushkov also noted that Russian Ambassador Anatoliy Antonov had been recalled to take stock of relations with the U.S. He hoped that the recall would be short.
Simes observed that Russia had up until now observed a policy of strategic patience, but was this warranted now? Should Russia now act unpleasantly and hurtfully against the U.S. and its allies, in the Donbas, in the Baltics, or in Afghanistan, for example? Should Russia raise the price for the United States? Sushentsov said Russia would respond only in accord with its own vital interests, which are defined mostly by its borders. "A kinetic response to a public insult would be an outdated response from ancient times." Sushentsov thought that Biden might be regretting his comment now.
MFA spokeswoman Mariya Zakharova then appeared by telebridge. Zakharova said that Ambassador Antonov would return to Moscow not to make a political point, but for real consultations about the state of the relationship. Simes noted that it was appropriate for Antonov to return in any case, since Covid had prevented him from going to Moscow for quite some time. But would there be a serious result? Zakharova equivocated, noting that "all we see now is a deadlock. You need to break the deadlock," but U.S. foreign policy appeared to be just a weapon in the domestic political battle -- in other words, it was up to the U.S. to get the two countries out of the current dead end.
Pushkov concluded that a "political war is on" between the U.S. and Russia. Renewing START had been necessary, and Russian will have to work with the Americans on climate change, but otherwise, contacts will have to be curtailed. There will be confrontation, but no shooting war. And eventually, the U.S. will get around to doing the right thing. It is the 21st Century. The U.S. can no longer rule the world. Simes agreed, but cautioned that Biden's approach had substantial Congressional support. The relationship would go through some hard times.
The program closed with Putin's call for a conversation with Biden, saying that it should be live and online so that the Russian and American people and others could view it for themselves.
The English translation of this program has just appeared on the Channel One site and is linked here:
