As the news broke in November that Joe Biden had won enough states to be declared president-elect, congratulations poured in from world leaders. Russian President Vladimir Putin was conspicuously absent from the list of well-wishers — and waited for more than a month, until the Electoral College vote last week, before congratulating him.
“It’s classic Putin,” says Konstantin Eggert, a Russian political commentator. “By not congratulating Biden for so long, he — in his eyes at least — proved that he’s tough, he’s strong, and, if need be, he’s ready to take the fight all the way to Washington.”
The two leaders have a history going back to when Biden was President Barack Obama’s vice president. According to Biden, he once told Putin he had looked into his eyes and didn’t think Putin had a soul. During the presidential election campaign, Biden called Russia “the biggest threat to America.” After a massive hack of U.S. government agencies was blamed on Russia this month, the president-elect said there would be costs for the perpetrators.
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