Daily Times

The White House shut down a request by Russia’s Vladimir Putin to hold a public conversation – perhaps on Zoom – with President Biden, saying the commander-in-chief is “quite busy.”

Putin, on Thursday, challenged Biden to an on-air conversation to discuss his latest warning that Putin would “pay a price” following a report containing evidence of attempted Russian interference in the 2020 presidential election. Biden had also agreed that the Russian president was a killer.

But White House press secretary Jen Psaki quickly rebuffed the invitation and the tiff over the “killer” comments, saying Putin and Biden have “different perspectives on their respective countries.”

“We are confident that we can continue to look for ways where there’s a mutual interest – mutual national interest,​”​ Psaki said. ​”​But the president is not going to hold back, clearly, when he has concerns, whether it is with words or actions.”

She also said that Biden and Putin talked in January “even as there are more world leaders that he has not yet engaged with.”

Putin’s invitation seemed to amount to a challenge to Biden to a live televised debate, following a day of diplomatic uproar that began when Biden said he thought Putin was a “killer” in an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos. Russia recalled its ambassador to the United States in response to the remark.