Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Friday called White House head Joe Biden's statements about Russian leader Vladimir Putin unacceptable.
"It is unacceptable to make such statements to the Russian president. Mr. Putin gave a very smart and elegant response," Erdogan told reporters after Friday prayers.
The Turkish president also commented on an incident on the border with Syria, where the Turkish city of Kilis was shelled. "Earlier, the [Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's] regime made another mistake. The attack on Kilis is an unacceptable attack, and we gave the necessary response to it," he said.
Biden said in an interview with ABC on Wednesday that the Russian leadership will have to "pay the price" in connection with the attempts to interfere in the US election attributed to Moscow. He also said yes when asked if he thought Putin was a "killer".
After Biden's sharp remarks about Russia, Putin invited him to hold an open dialogue on Friday or Monday. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said she was unaware of the American leader's plans to participate in the conversation with his Russian counterpart. Biden himself declined to answer a question about the possibility of such a conversation.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS