Former US Vice President Joe Biden has criticized President Donald Trump for failing to take action against Moscow which has been reported to have offered bounties to militants in Afghanistan for killing coalition troops.
The New York Times on Friday reported that a Russian military unit linked to assassination attempts in Europe offered rewards for successful attacks last year on American and coalition troops. The report also said that Trump had been briefed about it and that the White House’s National Security Council discussed the problem at an interagency meeting in late March, but no response yet been authorized.
“Not only has he failed to sanction or impose any kind of consequences on Russia for this egregious violation of international law, Donald Trump has continued his embarrassing campaign of deference and debasing himself before Vladimir Putin,” Biden said, referring to the Russian president.
Biden pledged retaliation if he becomes president.
“If I’m elected president, make no mistake about it, Vladimir Putin will be confronted and we’ll impose serious costs on Russia,” Biden said.
The White House, however, has denied that Trump was briefed on the reported intelligence.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement that “neither the president nor the vice president (Mike Pence) were briefed on the alleged Russian bounty intelligence.”
