Putin on Biden: Russian president reacts to US leader's criticism
2021-03-18 21:09:04
Russian President Vladimir Putin has hit back after his US counterpart Joe Biden said in an interview that he considered him to be a "killer".
"It takes one to know one," Mr Putin said on Russian TV, and challenged Mr Biden to talk to him live on air.
Mr Putin rejects accusations that his security services tried to kill opposition politician Alexei Navalny.
The US president also told ABC News Mr Putin would "pay the price" for alleged meddling in the 2020 US election.
Russia has called home its ambassador for talks to prevent the "irreversible deterioration" of ties.
The Russian government said Anatoly Antonov had been called back from Washington to Moscow as relations with the US had reached a "blind alley".
Mr Biden had been commenting on an American intelligence report that suggested Mr Putin had authorised an interference campaign in last November's presidential election in the US.
The report accused Russia of trying to sway the election in favour of former Republican President Donald Trump, who was defeated by Mr Biden, a Democrat.