Biden calls Putin a ‘rational actor who has miscalculated significantly’

President Biden called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “rational actor” but said he miscalculated with his decision to invade Ukraine.

“I think he is a rational actor who has miscalculated significantly,” Biden told CNN’s Jake Tapper, according to an excerpt released ahead of an interview that will air on Tuesday. 

The president also called Putin’s speech just before Russia launched its invasion in February “irrational.”

“You listen to what he says. If you listen to the speech he made … I mean, it’s just, I just think it’s irrational,” Biden said. “I think the speech, his objectives were not rational. I think he thought … he was going to be welcomed with open arms, that this was the home of Mother Russia in Kyiv, and that where he was going to be welcomed, and I think he just totally miscalculated.”

His comments come as Putin has launched dozens of missiles that landed in cities across Ukraine, including Kyiv, since Monday. 

Before the CNN interview on Tuesday, Biden met with Group of Seven leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The president and allies vowed in the virtual meeting to hold Russia accountable if it follows through on threats to use nuclear weapons amid the war in Ukraine.