President Biden said Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to be “self-isolating” and “there appears to be some evidence that he has fired some of his advisers or placed them under house arrest” amid the war in Ukraine. But Mr. Biden added, “I don’t want to stress that too much at this point because we don’t have that much hard evidence.”
A US official said Wednesday that US intelligence officials found that Putin had been misinformed by his advisers about the poor performance of Kremlin troops in Ukraine. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday that recently declassified intelligence agencies indicated that Putin was aware of the situation surrounding the information he had received, and that there were now ongoing tensions between him and senior Russian military officials.
Earlier this week Moscow said it would “drastically reduce” its military operations in two areas of the country to “boost mutual trust” and encourage peace talks. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy late Wednesday cast doubt on Russia’s stated decision to “drastically reduce” attacks around Kyiv and the northeastern city of Chernihiv.
Mr. Biden also appeared dubious on Thursday about claims that Putin is withdrawing his troops. Indeed, Mr. Biden said, there is evidence that Putin is building troops in the Donbass region to the east.
President Joe Biden pauses as he speaks to members of the press after speaking about his administration’s plans to combat rising gas prices in the South Court Auditorium on the White House campus on Thursday, March 31, 2022. Patrick Semansky/AP
“So far, there is no clear evidence that he is withdrawing all of his forces from Kyiv,” Biden said. “There are also indications that he is strengthening his troops down in the Donbass region. Depending on how you view Putin – I’m a bit skeptical.”
Mr Biden said he had no evidence that Putin was “taking a break and doing everything he can – to deploy all the troops that he has in the Donbass and continue to keep an eye on it and try to think about the rest of the to go out of the country. Don’t know the answer.”
The president’s comments came after he announced that he would release one million barrels of oil a day from the country’s strategic petroleum reserve for the next six months in a bid to curb high gas prices.
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