Politicians in Kyiv and Moscow struck markedly different tones as they reacted to US President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from November’s presidential election on Sunday, following months of speculation about his mental agility and his diminishing chances of beating Donald Trump.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Biden warmly for his “steadfast support of our country’s struggle for freedom” and called his decision to withdraw from the race both difficult and strong.
“We will always be thankful for President Biden’s leadership. He supported our country during the most dramatic moment in its history, assisted us in preventing Putin from occupying our country, and has continued to support us throughout this terrible war,” Zelensky wrote on X on Sunday.
When asked for his reaction to the decision, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stressed that Russia’s priority was “achieving the goals of the special military operation” and not the US presidential election.
“There are still four months to go until the elections, which is a long time and a lot can change. We will be paying attention and will see what happens next,” Peskov said, in remarks reported by Telegram channel Shot.
Famed for his online outbursts and vitriolic tirades, former Russian president and current deputy chairman of its Security Council Dmitry Medvedev was unusually succinct in his reaction on Monday, saying only: “That’s it for Biden. So let us wish him good health. The goals of the special military operation will be achieved.”
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, wrote on Sunday evening that there should now be “an investigation into the collusion of the US media and political circles that hid the truth about [Biden’s] mental state”, accusing them of “manipulating public opinion and playing along with one political party”.
Zakharova followed up her comments on Monday morning with a photograph of four dancers performing Swan Lake, a reference to the fact that the ballet was played on all Soviet TV stations during the failed coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev in August 1991, and which today remains a coded way of expressing political uncertainty.
