Putin Appears Eager – But Not Too Eager – to Meet With Biden After Harsh Rhetoric

© (ERIC BARADAT,PAVEL GOLOVKIN/POOL/AFPGetty Images) (COMBO) This combination of pictures created on March 17, 2021 shows US President Joe Biden(L) during remarks on the implementation of the American Rescue Plan in the State Dining room of the White House in Washington, DC on March 15, 2021, and Russian President Vladimir Putin as he and his Turkish counterpart hold a joint press statement following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 5, 2020. – US President Joe Biden said he agrees with the assessment that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin is a “killer.” In an interview with ABC News broadcast on March 17, 2021, Biden said Putin would “pay a price” for trying to undermine his candidacy in the US 2020 election as alleged in a new US intelligence report.Asked if he thought Putin, who is accused of being ruthless with his opponents, is “a killer,” Biden said, “I do.” (Photos by Eric BARADAT and Pavel Golovkin / various sources / AFP) (Photo by ERIC BARADAT,PAVEL GOLOVKIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his top advisers on Friday appeared eager – but not too eager – to reciprocate President Joe Biden’s apparent overture after a week that saw fiery threats from the two leaders.

The Kremlin jumped on a comment Biden made to reporters Friday before leaving the White House for Georgia in which he said of Putin, “I’m sure we’ll talk at some point.” Russia state news played up Biden’s comments and compared them to Putin’s reaction to other indications the U.S. would be willing to engage in new dialogue with Russia.

“I would not put it off indefinitely,” Putin said, before immediately couching his own offer: “At the weekend, I want to go into the forest [for] a little rest there.”

He said he would be willing to talk with Biden, however, later in the weekend, “or, say on Monday,” Putin told a state TV news channel.

“Please, we are ready at any time, convenient for the American side, and I’ll give the relevant instructions to the Foreign Ministry right now,” Putin said, according to a translation of his remarks.

Biden’s comments Friday came in response to barbs he traded with the Russian leader this week – first in an interview agreeing that Putin is “a killer” and later saying he “will pay the price” for recent acts of aggression, including the U.S. assessment that Moscow attempted to interfere in the 2020 election.

Putin fired back in a television interview, saying it “takes one to know one.” He also wished the U.S. leader “good health,” a comment broadly seen as a sly warning at a time relations between the countries have deteriorated to potentially dangerous levels.

Though unlikely a threat of physical harm against Biden himself, some drew parallels to the series of Russian dissidents who have fallen victim to poisoning attacks – most recently Alexei Navalny – and other methods of assassination, many of which U.S. officials believe were ordered by Putin.

Analysts largely applauding the new hard line Biden has taken with Russia but have also cautioned against spending too much time focusing on punitive measures for Russia without a clear plan for what they will achieve.

“At this stage, the Biden administration has done a good job of distinguishing itself from Trump-administration Russia policy. This box can be checked,” Michael Kimmage, a professor of history at Catholic University, wrote on Twitter on Thursday. “Now is the right time to align statements, direct and otherwise, with a positive vision of where this relationship should go.”

Copyright 2021 U.S. News & World Report