US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin made a “big mistake” when he announced that his country was suspending its participation in the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty.
Biden, who was walking into a meeting with the Bucharest Nine at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland, first smiled and replied, “I don’t have time,” when a member of the US press asked Putin for his reaction.
He then paused and said, “Big mistake,” before posing for photos with other leaders. The Bucharest Nine grouping was formed following the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2015 and includes Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. Biden is meeting with NATO leaders in Poland as the Ukraine war approaches the one-year mark.
In Moscow, Putin met with Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat, on Wednesday. Earlier, Wang met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Putin has said he is suspending participation in New START, the only major nuclear arms control treaty with the US, and sought to shift blame to the West for the Ukraine conflict.
