KTT NATO: Putin equates Russian crackdown to capture Capitol rioters; Biden called him ‘eligible enemy’

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will meet with President Joe Biden at the top of the Summit, has suggested that hundreds of people arrested for riots at M.S. Capitol experienced a “persecution of political opinion.”

Putin is likely to be under strong criticism from Biden at their meeting in Geneva to move against his political opponents in Russia, especially the imprisonment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the detention of thousands of demonstrators protested his arrest, and exploration of Navalny organizations as extremists.

“You present it as differences of opinion and intolerance to differences of opinion in Russia. We see it completely different,” he said in an interview with NBC news broadcasts Monday. He then pointed to the January 6 rebellion in Washington when the protesters broke into the Capitol to try to stop the vote count of elections to certify Biden’s election victory over Donald Trump.

“Do you know that 450 people were arrested after entering the congress? … They came there with political demands,” he said.

Despite the protest that erupted across Russia after the arrest of Navalny in January was not examined, the demonstrators were mostly peaceful and did not enter the government building or caused significant property damage, unlike capitol riots.

Putin also reaffirms the denial that the Kremlin was behind past poisoning from Navalny with a nerve agent who almost killed him.

“We don’t have this habit, to kill anyone,” Putin said.

“Have you ordered the murder of a woman who entered the Congress and was shot and killed by a police officer?” Putin said, referring to Trump supporters Ashli ​​Babbitt, who was fatally shot by a police officer Capitol when he tried to climb through the window that headed to the floor of the house.

At a press conference after NATO summit Monday in Brussels, Biden refused to assess how he would measure the success of his meeting with Putin because “the last thing to do anyone is negotiating in front of the press.”

Biden described Putin as “bright,” “tough” and “decent enemy.” But he showed he would remain vigilant about the commitment who came out of their meeting, said he would “verify first and then trust” Russian leader.

He also suggested he would look for the field of agreement with the President of Russia, while also warning him of sustainable aggression against A.S.