Joe Biden slams Trump for 'foolish' appeasement of Putin

Former President Joe Biden has accused the Trump administration of "modern-day appeasement" in its dealings with Vladimir Putin.

Former President Joe Biden has accused the Trump administration of "modern-day appeasement" in its dealings with Russia's Vladimir Putin and of risking the transatlantic alliance that has prevented a world war for 80 years.

In his first interview since leaving office in January, Biden told BBC Radio 4's "Today" programme that it was "foolish" to think that Putin would be satisfied by permanently gaining the territory his forces seized after the 2022 invasion, which President Donald Trump and senior officials have said may be necessary to secure a peace deal.

In the wide-ranging interview broadcast on Wednesday morning, Biden also made an impassioned defense of his record on the economy and on U.S. aid for Ukraine, while offering strongly worded attacks on the current administration.

At times Biden sounded hoarse and at one point apologized for a persistent cough and at other times he seemed to slur his words, a reminder of the disastrous presidential debate with Trump that ended his campaign for reelection in July last year.

"I just don’t understand how people think that if we allow a dictator, a thug, to decide he’s going to take significant portions of land that aren’t his and that’s gonna satisfy him, I don’t quite understand," Biden said, speaking from his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.