Russian Federation ready to work with United States – Putin

“It’s not up to us to judge his virtue, that is up to U.S. voters, but he is the absolute leader of the presidential race”, Putin told journalists in Moscow.

Asked about the murder of opposition politician Boris Nemtsov earlier this year, Putin said the crime would definitely be solved and the killers punished.

Russian president Vladimir Putin on Thursday praised Donald Trump, a Republican presidential hopeful in the United States, saying: “He is a bright and talented person without any doubt”.

But Trump also said in October he would like to “sit back” and watch as Russian Federation continues air strikes in Syria, suggesting it could be a “trap” that could bog down Moscow.

Stressing that Russian forces deployed in Syria could withdraw in two days, Putin ruled out the possibility of setting up a regular military base in the war-torn country.

The economy is set to decline by 3.8 per cent this year, and average income has dropped this year for the first time since Putin was first elected in 2000.

Putin brushed aside a question about the cost to Russia’s struggling economy of the bombing campaign in Syria. Putin has backed Syrian President Bashar Assad, whereas Obama has referred to as for Assad to step down. Did they think that we would run away from there?

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

In an optimistic vein, Putin insisted today that Russian Federation had passed the zenith of the economic crisis and returned to modest economic growth. Moscow, meanwhile, has been bolstering Assad with airstrikes ostensibly aimed at ISIS but more often, according to the Pentagon, targeting other opposition fighters, including ones support by Washington.

But the United States appears to have already made its own compromises in the search for peace. However he directed criticism at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government, accusing it of “licking the Americans in one place”. “I don’t know. Seriously, I don’t care”, he added.

Blanket denials Previously, Mr Putin and other officials had issued blanket denials that Russian Federation was involved militarily in eastern Ukraine, where more than 9,000 people have been killed and 20,000 injured in 18 months of sporadic fighting.

Putin likes to throw in a few surprises on these occasions, as he did two years ago by announcing the release of the imprisoned oil tycoon, Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Putin said that he was satisfied with the leadership of Russia’s Central Bank, which steeply hiked interest rates to prevent inflation, despite the pain that the move has dealt to businesses and borrowers. His optimistic words came despite the low rate of the ruble and poor investment climate in Russian Federation.

“Turkey used to violate Syrian airspace all the time”, Putin said. “They are never going to get involved in that”.