Russian President Vladimir Putin is showering President Trump with praise while criticizing the U.S. political system as inefficient and unpredictable.
Speaking in a series of interviews with Russian state television which were included in a documentary released Wednesday, Putin described Trump as a great communicator.
“I have no disappointment at all,” Putin said when asked about the U.S. president. “Moreover, on a personal level he made a very good impression on me.”
(...)
The two leaders met on the sidelines of international summits last year. Putin praised Trump as a “balanced” man, who easily gets into the gist of various issues and listens to his interlocutor.
“It’s possible to negotiate with him, to search for compromises,” Putin added.
(...)
Venting his frustration with the U.S. political system, Putin said “it has demonstrated its inefficiency and has been eating itself up.”
“It’s quite difficult to interact with such a system, because it’s unpredictable,” Putin said.
(...)
Speaking about the Russia-West rift, Putin said it has been rooted in Western efforts to contain and weaken Russia.
“We are a great power, and no one likes competition,” he said.
He said he was particularly dismayed by what he described as the U.S. role in the ouster of Ukraine’s Russia-friendly president in February 2014 amid massive protests.
That Russia-friendly president is Viktor Yanukovych for whom Paul Manafort – President Trump's now-indicted former campaign chairman – was a longtime consultant.
Putin also bragged about Russia's annexation of Crimea.
“Few expected us to act so quickly and so resolutely, not to say daringly,” Putin said.
He described the Western sanctions over Crimea and the insurgency in eastern Ukraine as part of “illegitimate and unfair” efforts to contain Russia, adding that “we will win in the long run.”
“Those who serve us with poison will eventually swallow it and poison themselves,” he said.
(...)
Responding to a question about Russia’s growing global leverage, Putin responded: “If we play strongly with weak cards, it means the others are just poor players, they aren’t as strong as it seemed, they must be lacking something.”
Putin, who presented a sweeping array of new Russian nuclear weapons last week, voiced hope that nuclear weapons will never be used — but warned that Russia will retaliate in kind if it comes under a nuclear attack.
When asked about his extensive conversations with Melania Trump and the Italian premier's wife during dinner at the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany in July, Putin alluded to his past as spy tasked with seduction.
Asked jokingly by the interviewer if he was trying to recruit the women, the KGB veteran responded by saying: “No, I stopped dealing with that a long time ago.”
He added with a smile: “But I liked doing that, it was my job for many years.”
Putin praises Trump, says US political system eating itself (AP)