Thread: Putin praises 'bright and talented' Trump

Putin praises 'bright and talented' Trump

By Jeremy Diamond and Greg Botelho, CNN

Updated 11:07 AM ET, Thu December 17, 2015

Moscow (CNN)Donald Trump has said that he would "get along very well" with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The feeling is apparently mutual.

Putin offered high praise for the billionaire businessman-turned-Republican presidential front-runner on Thursday during an annual news conference with reporters.

"He is a bright and talented person without any doubt," Putin said, adding that Trump is "an outstanding and talented personality."

And in remarks closely mirroring Trump's assessment of the campaign, the Russian leader called Trump "the absolute leader of the presidential race," according to the Russian TASS news agency.

READ: Donald Trump vs. the world's leaders

While most Republican presidential contenders have demonized the Russian president -- including calling him a "gangster" and a "thug" -- and pushed plans to isolate Russia on the world stage, Trump has instead touted his ability to improve Washington-Moscow relations by working with the iron-fisted Russian leader.

Trump has repeatedly touted his joint appearance with Putin on an episode of CBS's "60 Minutes" this fall, referring to himself and Putin as "stablemates."

Trump said in October that he and Putin "are very different" but suggested that the two men could move beyond the frigid relations that have come to define U.S.-Russia relations under President Barack Obama.

"I think that I would at the same time get along very well with him. He does not like Obama at all. He doesn't respect Obama at all. And I'm sure that Obama doesn't like him very much," Trump said then. "But I think that I would probably get along with him very well. And I don't think you'd be having the kind of problems that you're having right now."

Putin referenced Trump's reported desire "to reach another, deeper level of relations" with Russia in his remarks Thursday.

"What else can we do but to welcome it? Certainly, we welcome it," Putin said.

While fellow Republican contenders have been highly skeptical of stepped up Russian military involvement in Syria, Trump has welcomed it.

Trump suggested in the his September "60 Minutes" appearance that the U.S. should avoid deepening its involvement in Syria, instead allowing Russia to take a leading role in combating the radical Islamist group that has called for attacks on the U.S.

"Russia wants to get rid of ISIS. We want to get rid of ISIS. Maybe let Russia do it. Let them get rid of ISIS. What the hell do we care?" Trump said, despite U.S. wariness of Russia's presence in Syria, which is mainly aimed at bolstering the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, who the Obama administration has called for to leave.

Beyond a common desire for a lighter U.S. footprint in Syria, Putin and Trump also share a similar style.

The two men are both well known for their blunt manner and bravado.

Trump often attacks his opponents for being "low-energy" or lacking the "strength and stamina" to be president, touting instead the need for a "strong" leader like himself.

Putin, a former KGB spy and avid outdoorsman, has staked his reputation on his macho image, with his press shop even releasing a photo of the Russian leader topless on horseback

http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/17/politi...a-putin-trump/

Russian President Vladimir Putin Praises Donald Trump as 'Talented' and 'Very Colorful'

By PATRICK REEVELL

MOSCOW — Dec 17, 2015, 8:29 AM ET

Russian President Vladimir Putin offered praise for GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump today, telling ABC News, "He's a very colorful person. Talented, without any doubt. But it's not our affair to determine his worthiness. That's up to the United States voters."

He added: "He wants to move to a different level of relations, to more solid, deeper relations with Russia. And how can Russia not welcome that? We welcome that."

Despite the apparent character recommendation, Putin did, however, seem to question Trump’s populist methods and often inflammatory statements.

“As for his internal political issues and his turns of speech which he uses to raise his popularity, I repeat, it’s not our job to judge them," Putin said.

Putin spoke to ABC News after his annual marathon news conference today, where he took questions from among hundreds of journalists for hours on issues ranging from his favorite historical figure to his plans for Syria.

Nearly 1,400 journalists packed into a Moscow auditorium to try and put a question to Putin, with many holding banners to attract the Russian leader’s attention, some with words like “Pensioners” or “I’m pregnant” written on them. The event usually continues for at least three hours -- the record is over four -- and is an occasion for Putin to express himself on Russia’s major foreign policy and domestic issues.

Putin spoke about the many foreign crises in which that Russia is entangled, commenting on Syria and Ukraine, as well as Russia’s relations with Turkey following the shooting down of a Russian bomber by Turkish jets last month.

On Syria, Putin said Russian military operations will continue until a political process begins. Earlier this week, Putin met with U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry to discuss finding a diplomatic situation to the war in Syria, with Kerry announcing then that Russia and the United States are moving “in the same direction.”

Putin echoed Kerry today, saying, “strange as it may seem,” the Russian and U.S. positions on Syria coincide on many basic points.

Putin often uses the occasion to speak colorfully and, on Turkey, he suggested that the Turkish government had shot down the Russian jet perhaps in order to please the United States, in his words, to “lick the U.S. in a certain place.”

He added he didn’t know whether the United States wanted to be licked or not, to loud laughter in the hall.

Putin also indulged himself when asked about the U.S. presidential elections. He declined to express an opinion, saying, “We won’t interfere, like they do with us.”

He said, however, “whoever the American people choose, we will work with.”

One of the more striking comments came when Putin was asked about the corruption scandal involving FIFA and its former chief Sepp Blatter. Putin said that Blatter, who stepped down amid allegations of financial misconduct under his administration, deserved a Nobel Peace Prize for his “colossal” humanitarian contribution.

Most questions tend to be on expected themes, for which Putin heavily prepares. And most answers are long monologues, with Putin often speaking in detail on specific projects, such as road taxes or Russia’s agricultural sector.

As the hours wore on, the journalists pressed harder to be chosen. As the conference approached its third hour, people waving their placards began to jump up and down, shouting their theme to Putin, who basked on the stage.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/...ry?id=35816611

Vladimir Putin Chides Turkey, Praises Trump and Backs Russia’s Economy

By ANDREW E. KRAMERDEC. 17, 2015

MOSCOW — Alternately pugnacious and conciliatory, with his customary swagger and salty language, President Vladimir V. Putin held forth on a broad array of topics in his traditional year-end news conference on Thursday, even throwing in a glowing assessment of Donald J. Trump.

Mr. Putin drew applause from the crowd of journalists when he lashed out at Turkey for having shot down a Russian bomber, daring the Turks to try it again with Russia’s advanced air defense system in place and surmising that perhaps the Turks “wanted to lick the Americans in one place.”

Yet he praised the efforts of Secretary of State John Kerry to find a political solution to the war in Syria and admitted that there were Russian personnel in Ukraine, though no regular soldiers.

In the wide-ranging, more than three-hour event, Mr. Putin offered rare hints about his closely guarded family life, saying his two grown daughters were living in Russia and “taking the first steps of their careers.”

Not surprisingly, he threw in a few curve balls. He rose to the defense of Sepp Blatter, the embattled president of soccer’s world governing body, FIFA, who is under criminal investigation for corruption, saying Mr. Blatter should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

And he even inserted himself into the Republican primary contest in the United States, speaking highly of Mr. Trump in remarks after the news conference ended. “There is no doubt that he is a very bright and talented man,” the Russian leader said. “It is not our business to assess his merits; that is up to the U.S. voters. But he is an absolute leader of the presidential race.”

Beneath the pyrotechnics, Mr. Putin seemed most concerned with driving home the point to his domestic audience that Russia’s battered economy had bottomed out, an indication that Russia’s recession had his full attention.

Peppered with dozens of questions, Mr. Putin lingered, as he did at last year’s session, on those that allowed him to reassure Russians that their living standards were not imperiled.

He went out of his way, in several answers, to say that Russia’s economy had hit bottom this year, and that it was now bouncing back — though independent economists and even Russia’s central bank, in a report released this month, have contested that view.

The gross domestic product, a broad measure of the economy’s health, is projected to fall 3.7 percent this year but will grow by 0.7 percent next year, Mr. Putin said. It would pick up more in following years, he added.

Real incomes, he conceded, are falling, but other indications of social well-being, such as the birthrate, are up, he said.

Mr. Putin backpedaled on his prediction a year ago that Russia would pull out of its current slump within two years, and blamed the tumble in oil prices. “After this fall in prices in energy resources, all the indicators slipped,” he said.

Despite the recession, Mr. Putin’s popularity remains extraordinarily high, with support above 80 percent in some polls. While the economy is biting at home, even as Mr. Putin pursues a swaggering foreign policy, the hardship has not yet translated into widespread political discontent.

Surveys and the answers to questions posed to focus groups show that the pillars of Mr. Putin’s popularity shifted in early 2014, just before the current downturn. Russians now say they admire Mr. Putin more for a role as a “protector” from external threats than for the role of “provider,” a study by an influential Russian sociologist, Mikhail E. Dmitriyev, concluded this year.

Mr. Putin also offered positive signals for a round of talks on a Syrian peace plan scheduled to take place in New York on Friday, saying he could largely support the American plan described by Mr. Kerry in their meeting this week in Moscow.

Russia under Mr. Putin has deployed its military in several countries, and at one point on Thursday the president suffered a slip of the tongue in answering a question about Georgia, where Russia fought a war in 2008 and later recognized two separatist regions.

“Concerning the territorial integrity of Ukraine, ah, excuse me, of Georgia … ” he said, going on to say that the breakup of Georgia was the fault of that country’s former leaders, not of Russia.

Speaking of his daughters, he said that they “have never lived in the limelight” but that they speak three European languages that they use “in their daily work.” He did not directly deny reports published this year that his older daughter runs a program at Moscow State University.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/18/wo...ssia.html?_r=0