President Putin comments on relationship with President Trump
Russian President Vladimir Putin said his relationship with US President Donald Trump is purely professional.
According to RIA Novosti, in an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin - author of the program "Moscow, Putin" on the national television channel Rossiya 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he and US leader Donald Trump always have a pragmatic, work-related relationship.
“I have always had a working relationship, purely working, but at the same time pragmatic and trusting, with the current President of the United States. And I can say so,” said Russian President Putin.
“I cannot help but agree with him that, if he were president, if he had not been defeated in 2020, then perhaps the Ukraine crisis would not have broken out in 2022,” the Russian leader added.
However, according to Mr. Putin, as president in his first term, Mr. Donald Trump also introduced a significant number of the largest sanctions against Russia.
“I don’t think it was a decision that was beneficial for Russia or for the United States itself. Biden took over and introduced even more restrictions. And the results are clear, many decisions that harmed the US economy itself,” Putin said.
The Russian leader believes that Moscow is always ready to listen to any statements by the current US President about readiness for cooperation.
Regarding the issue of negotiations, President Putin said that Russia is still ready to negotiate about Ukraine, including with the US, but Kiev is creating obstacles to this.
“We have always said, and I want to emphasize this again, we are ready for negotiations on the Ukrainian issues,” Putin commented on US President Donald Trump's intention to start discussing the Ukrainian issues with the Russian Federation.
However, according to President Putin, there are currently issues that require special attention, such as the current head of government in Kiev has issued a decree banning negotiations.