White House comments on Putin rape allusion

White House spokesperson Jen Psaki commented on a rape
joke made by Russian president Vladimir Putin during French president Emmanuel
Macron’s visit to Moscow. The transcript of the Feb. 9 briefing reads that
Psaki was asked if the joke did, “shorten the diplomatic off-ramp because it’s
a pretty undiplomatic thing to say?  And has the White House communicated
to the Kremlin, you know, Yo, that’s not cool?”. Psaki replied that the U.S.
government has “never held back on its concern” regarding the rhetoric and
untruths coming from “President Putin and members of the Russian leadership”.
However, Psaki could not answer whether the Biden administration had sent a
formal communication on the matter.

At a Feb. 8 press briefing, Kremlin spokesperson
Dmitry Peskov stated that the turn of phrase was taken from Russian folklore
and not from a song by a Russian folk-punk band. He claimed that the reference
was to Ukraine’s duties under the Minsk Agreement. 

James Hydzik: The remark is relevant to the business community in Ukraine, and it
needs to be kept in mind. Putin has referred to Ukraine in female terms before,
and political commentary frequently points to him in particular acting as a
lover who refuses to accept that he’s being rejected – and who lashes out. If
this is so, the Maidan era status quo will continue until either another
Yanukovych leads the country back in his direction or Putin’s presidency ends.
As with COVID and economic cycles, this is an issue that will occasionally
affect business. Not permanently, not constantly, but present.