MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia said on Wednesday that U.S. President Joe Biden’s reference to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as a dictator showed U.S. foreign policy to be inconsistent and erratic.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was a contradiction between Biden’s comment and his secretary of state Antony Blinken’s efforts to reduce tensions with Beijing during a meeting with Xi earlier this week.
“These are very contradictory manifestations of American foreign policy, which speak to a significant element of unpredictability,” Peskov told reporters.
He said Biden’s comment was an “incomprehensible” follow-up to what he described as “various conciliatory statements” during Blinken’s visit.
“However, that’s their business,” Peskov said. “We have our own bad relationship with the United States of America and our very good relationship with the People’s Republic of China.”
Beijing hit back at the United States on Wednesday, saying Biden’s remarks were nonsense and a provocation.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Peter Graff)