President Biden has responded to his Russian counterpart's invitation to a live-streamed conversation, saying he expects to speak him at some unspecified future date.
"I'm sure we'll talk at some point," Biden said, speaking to reporters in Washington on Friday morning on his way to the Marine One helicopter.
Asked about whether he would impose more sanctions against Russia, Biden said "that will come in time."
Biden did not give a timeframe for any possible discussion with Putin. On Thursday, the Russian president said he would be ready to speak to his US counterpart as early as Friday or Monday.
Putin invited Biden for the livestream talks a day after the US president agreed with ABC News correspondent and former Clinton aide George Stephanopoulos's characterisation of the Russian leader as a "killer." Biden went on to promise that Putin would "pay a price" over Russia's alleged meddling in the 2020 presidential election.
Putin brushed off the "killer" epithet, wishing the US leader "good health" and suggesting that Biden may have projected US guilt for things like slavery and the mistreatment of Native Americans onto Russia. The Kremlin, however, suggested that the remarks signalled that Washington has no desire to improve relations. Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov was recalled to Moscow for consultations to determine "what should be done and where to go in the context of ties with the United States" in the wake of the comments.
Like Trump before him, Biden is known for making personal attacks against foreign leaders. However, unlike Trump's epithets, which usually featured a level of marketing flair (ex. calling North Korean leader Kim Jong-un "Little Rocket Man") Biden's have typically been more blunt and hostile. During the election campaign, the Democrat called Chinese President Xi Jinping a "thug," suggested that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was a "tyrant," and compared Kim Jong-un to Hitler.