MOSCOW, July 28. /TASS/. US President Joe Biden intends to continue using anti-Russian rhetoric with the domestic audience in mind yet his remarks on Russia contradict reality and cannot have a positive influence on Russian-American relations. This opinion was expressed by head of the Russian State Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs Leonid Slutsky on his Telegram channel on Wednesday.

"Apparently, the current US president intends to continue playing the anti-Russian card with the domestic audience in mind. And the reasons are clear: the continuing polarization and the growth of social tension in society, as well as problems in the US’ own economy, are not the best foundation for boosting voters’ trust," the lawmaker wrote. Additionally, he noted that "Washington is not going to give up illegal sanctions instruments in order to ensure its competitive advantages at world markets," and in order to do so "it is necessary to come up with more and more mythical justifications."

The lawmaker also presumed that "Biden, by stating that Russia’s economy relies exclusively on nuclear weapons and oil, is either severely mistaken, along the lines of his predecessor [Barack] Obama at that, or is trying to move the focus of the attention and decrease the degree of opponents’ criticism of the deal with [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel on Nord Stream 2." "Both definitely won’t help the Russian-US relations, particularly in the light of his other statements on Moscow’s alleged interference in the upcoming interim US election," he noted.

The head of the Duma committee also stated that the sanctions used by the US "are not reaching their target," Russia "is developing despite the containment attempts on the part of the collective West." Among the achievements of recent years he named the development of a vaccine against coronavirus, the deliveries of which are also opposed by the US, the increase in Russia’s export of steel, aluminum, grain, pipes, energy, space applications, and so on. "It seems to me that Biden’s statements are outdated propaganda from the Cold War era," he added.

"As for interfering in [the US election], please present some proof. Otherwise, this is yet another tale from the ‘highly likely’ collection," the lawmaker concluded.

Speaking on Tuesday at the headquarters of the office of the director of national intelligence (ODNI), Biden recalled the Geneva summit with Putin and stated that his Russian counterpart "has a real problem." According to the US leader, the Russian economy is based exclusively on nuclear weapons and oil resources. Biden also asserted that Russia was already trying to meddle in the upcoming 2022 interim US elections.