As of: February 17, 2024, 10:55 p.m
By: Laura May
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Putin stunned the world when he said he preferred Biden as US president.
His words were no coincidence if Russian propaganda is anything to go by.
Moscow - In an interview, Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin made an astonishing statement: For Russia, a victory by Joe Biden in the US election would be better than a victory by Donald Trump.
The international community is surprised by Putin's surprising move - because Trump has repeatedly been accused of being close to Russia in the past.
The ex-US president is also regularly praised in Russia.
Russia's famous state propagandist Vladimir Solovyov speaks of tactics.
According to the US magazine
Newsweek
, he explained that Putin's statements were due to a new communication strategy.
Russian propaganda machine explains Putin's statement: New strategy for information warfare?
Russia is often criticized for its inability to wage information warfare and this criticism is often justified, the moderator admitted.
Russia has often lost these political information battles, “but let me tell you, we are learning!” Solovyov emphasized.
Putin's statement was, in a sense, an addition to Putin's interview with US journalist Carlson Tucker last week, said Solovyov's guest Dmitry Kulikov, a Russian political scientist.
Putin missed sharp questions in the conversation and wanted to add them, said Kulikov in Solovyov's broadcast on Russian state TV on Wednesday (February 14).
It was not a “joke” on Putin’s part, but rather the Kremlin boss had made a “precisely calculated” statement, added moderator Solovyov.
Better Biden than Trump: Is Putin's statement an infiltration strategy?
Columnist and founder of the "Russian Media Monitor" Julia Davis sees Putin's statement that he prefers Biden as US president as a pure attention strategy, as she explains in a text for the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA).
A few sentences before the polemical thesis, Putin criticized Biden's policies and clearly took Trump's side on NATO issues.
The White House is concerned about Russian interference in the US election campaign.
There had already been reports of this in the past.
John Kirby, a White House spokesman, told reporters on Thursday: "Mr. Putin should just stay out of our elections." Trump also commented on the incident.
He said that for him it was a compliment not to be Putin's favorite.
Russia's propaganda machine sold Putin's words as a new strategy and a rethink on information warfare, but the real reason behind the surprising statement remains a matter of speculation.