Vladimir Putin Tells Joe Biden 'Don't Be Mad At The Mirror If You Are Ugly'

Vladimir Putin has savaged Joe Biden during a wide ranging interview with NBC.

The two leaders have often traded thinly-veiled threats and tactics of intimidation, however the Russia president pulled a cheeky worded uppercut to his American counterpart.

When he was being quizzed about the Kremlin detaining dissidents, namely Opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Putin said America shouldn't be throwing stones from glass houses.

Putin tried to point towards the January 6 Capitol Riots and the hundreds of arrests that have followed as an example of US authorities doing what it was criticising Russia for doing.

He told NBC: "We have a saying: 'Don't be mad at the mirror if you are ugly'.

"It has nothing to do with you personally. But if somebody blames us for something, what I say is, why don't you look at yourselves? You will see yourselves in the mirror, not us."

Vladimir Putin was pulled up on his statements and the interviewer pointed out how the people arrested for the Capitol insurrection were detained for committing serious crimes, like trespassing and violent conduct.

That's not the same in Russia, where many are taken into custody for their political beliefs.

He hit back at those allegations, saying: "Did you order the assassination of the woman [Ashli Babbitt] who walked into the Congress and who was shot and killed by a policeman?

"Do you know that 450 individuals were arrested after entering the Congress? And they didn't go there to steal a laptop. They came with political demands."

It's a pretty savage perspective and one that could inflame tensions when Biden and Putin meet in Geneva this week.

When Biden was sworn in as US President earlier this year, he promised he would take a hardline approach to Putin and Russia.

Unsurprisingly, Putin praised Biden's predecessor Donald Trump in the NBC interview and said he's a good man

"Mr Trump is an extraordinary individual, talented individual. Otherwise, he would not have become US president. He is a colourful individual," he said.

Putin did offer a tiny olive branch when he said he hopes there is 'predictability and stability' in Russian-American relations in the future and it's something that has been lacking in recent years.

All will be revealed when the two meet on Wednesday (June 16).