Russian President Vladimir Putin disputed that President Joe Biden, during a visit to Moscow when he was still vice president, told him that he had no soul.
Biden claimed during an interview in 2014 that the exchange took place in 2011.
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“I said, ‘Mr. Prime Minister, I’m looking into your eyes, and I don’t think you have a soul,’” Biden told the New Yorker at the time. “He looked back at me, and he smiled, and he said, ‘We understand one another.'”
Biden was referring to remarks made by former President George W. Bush, who once suggested he and the Russian leader could work together.
Like U.S. presidents before and after him, however, Bush’s hopes were mostly dashed. Even the most recent former commander in chief, Donald Trump, soured on Putin’s antics, though he rarely said so publicly despite approving sanctions and other measures meant to put pressure on his counterpart in Moscow.
Putin, speaking through a translator at his Wednesday press conference, claimed he doesn’t “remember” the exchange and added that this is “not the first time [he’s] heard that statement.”
He did offer Biden some backhanded compliments, claiming that “he’s a balanced and professional man, and it’s clear that he’s very experienced.”
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According to the translator, Putin then explained how Biden “talked a bit about his family and what his mother told him” and called the comments “important” but “not quite relevant.”
Notably, Putin claimed that Biden did not invite him to visit the White House for another round of bilateral meetings.
You can watch Putin’s full press conference below.
