Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his endorsement of Republican front-runner Donald Trump, calling the real estate mogul a “really brilliant and talented person”. “He is the absolute leader of the presidential race”, Putin told journalists.
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During his annual press conference, Putin said he would work with “whomever the American voters choose” but singling out Donald Trump as someone he could “get along very well”.
But Putin insisted he would not comment on any of Trump’s remarks “to prop up his popularity” on the campaign trail.
Trump has previously said that he is very different from Putin but argued he would be able to work well with the Russian leader.
“He is a very flamboyant man, very talented, no doubt about that”, Putin said. He hates Obama. Obama hates him.
At the second GOP presidential primary debate in September, Trump stated his belief that he would be able to have a working relationship with Putin.
Putin also said he backs FIFA President Sepp Blatter for the Nobel Peace Prize and Donald Trump for president.
British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday called Trump’s comments “divisive, stupid and wrong”.
Putin also reacted to the corruption scandals at Federation Internationale de Football Association which are overshadowing Russia’s preparations to host the World Cup in 2018. He said a new constitution for Syria must be drafted and a new election prepared in which the Syrians determine its leadership.
“We say that the action of the Turkish authorities in regard to our aircraft, which they downed, was not an act of unfriendliness, but an act of hostility”, Putin said. “And as far as him attacking ISIS, I’m all for it”, he told CBS News’ John Dickerson.
Addressing nearly 1400 reporters in a cavernous hall inside a Moscow conference centre, the Russian leader said on Thursday he generally backed a United States plan to prepare a UN resolution on Syria even though differences between Moscow and Washington remained.
“Couldn’t they just make a call or warn the military via the communications channels that existed and say: ‘Look, there are our interests here so please don’t hit it?”‘ he asked.
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Putin past year acknowledged Russian troops were in Crimea before Moscow seized the peninsula from Ukraine, after initially denying it.
