President
Vladimir Putin said on Friday he accepted the United States was probably still
the world's sole superpower and he was ready to work with whoever won the
presidency, but didn't want to be told how to live by Americans.
Putin's
comments follow a rocky period in US-Russia relations, which have been
undermined by disagreements over issues such as Ukraine and Syria.
Putin
reiterated criticism of what he said was the misguided role of the United
States in Ukraine's affairs and said he opposed what he cast as US efforts to
prevent Russia repairing its relations with the European Union.
But he had
some positive words too.
“America is
a great power - today probably the only superpower. We accept that,” Putin said
at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum. “We want to and are ready to
work with the United States.”
Asked about
Donald Trump, Putin appeared to play down positive comments he had made about
the Republican contender in the past, saying those had been misinterpreted.
In December,
Putin described Trump as “very flamboyant”, “very talented” and “an absolute
leader in the presidential race”.
Those
comments, along with warm words from Trump about Putin, have fuelled
speculation the Kremlin would be pleased to see Trump in the White House.
But on
Friday Putin said he had only described Trump as “flamboyant”.
“He is,
isn't he?” said Putin with a smile. “I did not give any other assessment of
him.”
Putin said
he welcomed Trump's desire to restore US-Russia ties. “What's wrong with that?”
Putin asked, drawing applause from the audience.
He appeared
keen however to hedge Russia's bets by avoiding the impression he was taking
sides, and also emphasised his “warm relations” with former US President Bill
Clinton, whose wife Hillary is running for the White House.
Putin said
he was grateful for the attention and respect Bill Clinton had shown to Russia
and Putin personally.
He had less
to say about Hillary Clinton though, saying he had never worked with her
directly.
Reuters
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