Putin says he would prefer Joe Biden to win US election rather than Donald Trump

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Vladimir Putin has said Joe Biden would be a better US president for Russia than Donald Trump and dismissed concerns over his counterpart’s age and acuity for the role.

Putin’s comments late on Wednesday marked his first foray into this year’s presidential election as tensions between Democrats and Republicans rise over the White House’s efforts to send more military aid to Ukraine.

Asked in a state television interview to choose between Biden and Trump, Putin said the US leader was “more experienced, predictable, an old-school politician”, adding that Russia would “work with any US leader who wins the trust of the American people”.

The Russian president’s comments came a day after Biden accused Trump of having “bowed down to a Russian dictator” as he urged Republicans in Congress to defy Trump and back more funding for Ukraine.

Trump’s presidency from 2017 to 2021 was dogged with accusations that he was too sympathetic to Putin. US intelligence assessed that Russia had interfered in the 2016 White House race to help Trump defeat Hillary Clinton.

Putin suggested on Wednesday that concerns over Biden’s age and mental acuity were part of the US election campaign “getting more and more vicious” and said he had seen no evidence his counterpart was not fit for office.

At their last meeting in Geneva in 2021, Putin recalled, “they were already saying Biden wasn’t competent [ . . . ] but I saw nothing of the sort. Yes, he looked at his notes, and to be honest, I looked at mine. No big deal. So he banged his head on the helicopter when he was getting out of it — who of us hasn’t banged their head on something?”

Despite his guarded backing of Biden, Putin said American policy on Russia was “harmful and mistaken” and suggested Trump was right to cast aspersions on the future of Nato.

The US has provided…