MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday decried what he called Joe Biden's "sharp anti-Russian rhetoric" but praised the Democratic presidential nominee's comments on arms control.

In his first detailed statements on the U.S. presidential campaign, Putin also lamented President Donald Trump's failure to improve relations between Moscow and Washington, but blamed this on a "bipartisan consensus on the need to contain Russia, to curb our country's development."

Putin's comments, to Russian state television, seemed intended to serve multiple purposes: playing to Trump's side b...