‘Killer’ Putin will ‘pay a price’ for alleged US election meddling: Biden

US President Joe Biden has said that his administration is preparing a harsh response after American security agencies reported that Russia attempted to interfere in the 2020 US elections in favor of his opponent, Donald Trump.

In an interview with the ABC news channel published on Wednesday, Biden was asked by Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos whether he thought Russian President Vladimir Putin was “a killer.” “Mmm hmm, I do,” Biden replied.

He added that he had previously warned his counterpart in Moscow that the US would potentially take action if it found evidence of Russian interference in the election. “He will pay a price,” Biden said. 

 On Tuesday, a joint report by Washington’s spy agencies, including the CIA and the Department of Homeland Security was declassified. It declares that Russia attempted to influence the 2020 vote with the aim of “denigrating President Biden’s candidacy and the Democratic Party, supporting former President Trump, undermining public confidence in the electoral process, and exacerbating sociopolitical divisions in the US.”

In the wake of the analysis, American media reported that the country was expected to unveil sanctions on Russia as early as next week in response to the alleged attempts to influence the election. 

However, Russian diplomats have dismissed the intelligence agencies’ verdict. In a post on its Facebook page, Moscow’s embassy in Washington said that the document “is another set of groundless accusations against our country of interfering in American internal political processes.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov added his voice to those criticizing the intelligence report. “Russia did not interfere in previous elections and did not interfere with the elections mentioned in this 2020 report,” he insisted. 

He argued, the allegations were being used as an “excuse” to introduce new sanctions on the country.