ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin stated Wednesday that Russian-American relations is not going to change no matter whether or not Joe Biden or Donald Trump wins the U.S. presidential election in November.
“We’ll work with any president the American individuals elect,” Putin stated in response to questions from worldwide journalists on the sidelines of the Worldwide Financial Discussion board in St. Petersburg.
“I say this fairly sincerely. I’d not say that we consider that something will change in American coverage relating to Russia after the election,” he added. “We don't consider that. We consider that nothing that severe will occur.”
Putin additionally stated Trump's conviction for a severe crime in his hush cash trial final week was the results of “the usage of the court docket system as a part of the interior political battle.”
The Russian president confronted questions from senior anchors of worldwide information companies, together with the Related Press, for the primary time since taking workplace for a fifth time period.
Putin makes use of the annual discussion board as a showcase to tout Russia's growth and search traders. Whereas conferences with journalists have been a part of earlier classes, he has not taken questions from Western journalists on the St. Petersburg occasion since sending troops to Ukraine.
Final yr, journalists from nations Russia considers unfriendly – together with the US, Britain and the European Union – weren’t invited. Western politicians and traders additionally stayed away from the assembly after sweeping sanctions had been imposed on Moscow over Ukraine.