Russian President Vladimir Putin openly expressed his preference for President Joe Biden as a better choice for the White House than former President Donald Trump. During a recent interview, he indicated that it would be easier for Russia to deal with Washington with Biden in the Oval Office and downplayed concerns about the president’s age and mental acuity.

This candid revelation on Putin’s part seems to mark a significant departure from the Kremlin’s perceived favor toward Trump. However, there could be more to this than it seems.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday Joe Biden would be better for Russia as president than Donald Trump, ahead of a potential rematch between the two in this year’s U.S. election.

“[Biden] is a more experienced, predictable person. He is a politician of the old school. But we will work with any leader of the United States, who is trusted by the American people,” Putin said in an interview on broadcaster Rossiya 1 TV when asked to choose between the two.

Trump faced criticism during his presidency for his friendly relationship with Putin and recently stirred controversy by saying he’d “encourage” Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to NATO allies that don’t meet defense spending targets. The Russian leader has previously also dismissed evidence that his country meddled in the 2016 vote to elect Trump.

Putin used Wednesday’s interview to downplay speculation about Biden’s cognitive health, recalling when the two met in Switzerland in June 2021, less than a year before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

“When I met with Biden in Switzerland — it was, indeed, a few years ago, three years — even then there were talks about him being incompetent. I saw nothing of the sort. Yes, he glanced at his notes. Honestly, I glanced at mine too,” Putin said. “There’s nothing to it.”

Given Trump’s recent comments suggesting that he would allow Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to NATO-affiliated nations who were not paying their fair share, and his complimentary approach to Putin, it is interesting that the Russian leader would indicate a preference for Biden.

There could be two different strategic reasons why Putin would send this particular message to the world.

On the one hand, perhaps he believes that his words might motivate people to do the opposite of what he seems to want. With Putin being an adversary of the United States, he might be banking on the possibility that if he says he prefers Biden, it might push people to vote for Trump, the president he would rather deal with. It could be a form of reverse psychology intended to ensure that Trump becomes president again. Again, Trump’s softer rhetoric toward the Russian president might lead him to believe that Russia’s agenda is better served by having Trump in office.

However, perhaps Putin truly would rather have Biden in office than Trump. While he was in office, his rhetoric toward the Russian regime was quite different from his actions against the Kremlin. He refused to lift sanctions on the Kremlin that were put into place because of its 2014 invasion of Crimea. Trump even imposed more sanctions during his tenure in office. Moreover, the former president allowed the sale of weapons to Ukraine, a move that even Barack Obama refused to do.

Trump also approved missile strikes in Syria that targeted Russia’s allies. These strikes killed “a couple of hundred Russians,” according to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

So far, Biden has not taken the level of action against the Kremlin that Trump did when he was in office. Indeed, some have speculated that if Trump were still in the White House, Putin would not have dared to invade Ukraine. In light of this, it would make sense for Putin to prefer the candidate whom he believes would be the weakest on Russia.

Either way, it won’t be surprising to see Russia looming large over the 2024 election.