Vice President Joe Biden

An interview U.S. Vice President Joe Biden gave to an American newspaper was front-page news Monday in Moscow, where his characterization of Russia as a weakened nation hit a nerve.

More specifically, Biden said that Russia’s economic difficulties are likely to make the Kremlin more willing to cooperate with the United States on a lot of national security issues. Biden added:

“I think we vastly underestimate the hand that we hold.”

Biden’s comments were certainly the opposite of the rapport that President Barack Obama had established during his Moscow visit. There, he said that the U.S. wants to see a “strong, peaceful and prosperous Russia.”

It raised a few eyebrows as well, as Kremlin Foreign Policy Adviser Sergei Prikhodko asked:

“It raises the question: Who is shaping U.S. foreign policy? The president or members of his team, even the most respected ones?”

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs then downplayed suggestions that Biden was setting a different U.S. policy from that established by President Obama. Gibbs also said that Obama’s views on Russia during his recent visit and Biden’s coincide. Lastly, Gibbs added that both Obama and Biden believe Russia will do its share to improve foreign relations with the United States.

Nonetheless, several Russian newspapers wrote about Biden’s interview in headlines casting doubt on Washington’s commitment to forge a more constructive relationship with Moscow and the rest of Russia. Russian newspaper Kommersant stated:

“Joe Biden unexpectedly returned to the rhetoric of the previous Bush administration.”