On Tuesday, US Vice President Joe Biden accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of attempting to sabotage the 2022 congressional elections by distributing “misinformation.”
“Look at what Russia is doing already about the 2022 elections and misinformation,” Biden said during a trip to the office of the director of national intelligence near Washington, referring to information he receives during his daily briefing.
“It’s a pure violation of our sovereignty.”
He also called Russian President Vladimir Putin a tyrant.
Putin has “a real problem, he is sitting on top of an economy that has nuclear weapons and nothing else,” Biden said. “He knows he is in real trouble, which makes him even more dangerous in my view.”
The US president also expressed alarm about the recent rise in cyberattacks, particularly ransomware, which encrypts victims’ data and then demands money in exchange for access to be restored.
“If we end up in a war, a real shooting war, with a major power, it’s going to be as a consequence of a cyber breach,” Biden said.
In the fall of 2022, the United States will hold midterm elections, with all seats in the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate on the ballot.
Washington recently accused Beijing of being behind the big Microsoft Exchange hack in March, and the White House has frequently urged Russia to combat ransomware assaults that originate within the country.
