Recently , Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov responded to media inquiries and said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was joking when he recently said that Russia supports US Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. "President Putin has a good sense of humor and he often jokes in his speeches and interviews." Lavrov added that Russia's attitude towards the US election will not change because the United States is actually controlled by the notorious deep state.
He said he had "no illusions" about the US leader and that Russia would not expect a "good guy" to appear in the White House or any other Western capital to help Russia solve its problems. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry website, Lavrov made the above remarks in an interview with Sky News Arabia, a subsidiary of the British Sky Group, in Moscow.
Earlier this month, Putin said at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum that Russia has no say in the popular candidates for the next US president, and Russia respects the choice of the American people. He also joked that Russia supports the current US President Biden, and since he has withdrawn from the election, Russia will support Harris in accordance with Biden's recommendation. When asked about Putin's statement on September 20, local time, Lavrov explained that Putin was joking.
As for how Russia will adjust its policies to suit the next U.S. president, Lavrov said: "I think our long-term attitude towards the current or previous elections in the United States will not be different, because the United States is controlled by the notorious 'deep state'."
He said Biden's physical condition makes it impossible for him to govern the country for a long time, but the United States is still turning the "gears", continuing to carry out military operations through the Ukrainian authorities, as well as in other parts of the world, and continuing to obstruct UN Security Council resolutions urging a ceasefire in Gaza and the West Bank. "The state machine is running, and it is ready to deal with any opponent that threatens the dominance of the United States," Lavrov said.
Russia Today mentioned that the so-called "deep government" refers to those secretive bureaucrats who are not elected but actually control government policies, especially leaders of intelligence agencies and the military. During his presidency, Trump has been criticizing this force for trying to undermine his agenda, accusing members of the "deep government" of hindering his withdrawal from Afghanistan and Syria and planning the "Russiagate" storm to damage his reputation and worsen relations between the United States and Russia.
Putin has previously said that these shadow bureaucrats are the real power center of the United States. In February this year, Putin said in an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson that the change of the White House will not affect the attitude of the United States towards Russia. "This has nothing to do with the personality of the leader, but with the mentality of the elite."