President Donald Trump: 'Putin is a tough nut to crack'

(Baonghean.vn) - Answering a question from a Fox television host, US President Donald Trump called his counterpart Vladimir Putin a "hard grain of rice".

President Donald Trump. Photo: EPA

When asked by the host to name a few prominent American politicians and Russian leaders and businesspeople, and to give a brief description of them, President Trump responded when asked about Putin: "I don't know what Putin is like to Russia. But to me, Putin is a 'hard grain of wheat.' I think we both understand what that means."

This is not the first time Trump has expressed admiration for Russian President Putin. President Trump has consistently stated that Putin "has strong control over the country," Trump said. "It's a very different system, and certainly within that system, he is a real leader."

Experts believe that President Trump's favorable view of the Russian president stems in part from the fact that Putin is indeed a tough leader who knows how to keep things on track. His approval rating has reached an all-time high since the spring of 2014 – over 80%.

The two leaders are expected to meet in the summer of 2017. And the nature of the first dialogue between Trump and Putin will shape international relations.

According to Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the two leaders share a common "ideological approach" to foreign policy. Their views are "stunningly similar."

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(According to Ria Novosti, TASS)