>I'd say Putin isbeing a bit too polite calling Biden a "statesman of such a high rank". I know technically he's correct but geez. Biden uses our description of him on Putin "Biden has in recent days called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal,” a “thug” and a “murderous dictator” . Interesting. So now we have a illegitimate US government telling a legitimate gov't what is right and what is wrong. Russia on Monday said it had summoned the U.S. ambassador to Moscow for a meeting to provide him a “note of protest” over President Biden‘s criticisms of Russia’s war on Ukraine. The tough statement from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned that that relations between Moscow and the U.S. could be completely severed because of Biden’s remarks and steps by the U.S. government to punish Russia over its invasion of neighboring Ukraine. “It is emphasized that such statements by the American President, unworthy of a statesman of such a high rank, put Russian-American relations on the verge of breaking,” the statement read, according to an English translation. “They warned that hostile actions taken against Russia would receive a decisive and firm rebuff.” Biden has in recent days called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal,” a “thug” and a “murderous dictator” because of the atrocities committed by Russian forces during their nearly four-week military invasion of Ukraine. The Russia statement said it had summoned U.S. Ambassador John Sullivan and handed him a “note of protest” over the “unacceptable statements.” State Department spokesperson Ned Price later confirmed to reporters that Sullivan met Russian officials and said the ambassador raised the cases of U.S. citizens detained in Russia. “Ambassador Sullivan took advantage of this encounter to demand that the Russian government follow international law, and basic human decency for that matter, and allow consular access to all U.S. citizen detainees in Russia, including those in pretrial detention,” Price said during a briefing, declining to characterize the message that the Kremlin sent to Sullivan. The U.S. and its allies have imposed crippling sanctions on Russian banks and elites in response to the invasion, which has killed thousands and displaced millions in Ukraine. Biden called Putin a war criminal last week in an off-the-cuff statement to a reporter after the White House had resisted doing so before a legal process could play out. Secretary of State Antony Blinken later said he personally agreed with the president’s assessment. This is an excerpt from The Hill.