President Putin Warns U.S. Infighting, Attacks on Trump Impede Good Bilateral Relations

Oct. 2, 2019 (EIRNS)—Speaking to media on a panel at Russia Energy Week in Moscow today, President Vladimir Putin commented that President Trump has said he wants to have good relations with Russia. “He wants restoration of the bilateral relationship. We welcome that, and we will use any opportunity to implement that,” CNBC reported him as saying.

However, he added, there is fierce political infighting in the U.S. which began even before Putin and Trump met, but it affects the bilateral relationship. In fact, he said, “everything we see now in the U.S. domestic political sphere violates Russian-American relations.”

“We see what is going on in the United States: [some forces] are using any pretext to attack President Trump. Now that is Ukraine and all the wrangling linked to it—I mean, the relations with Ukraine and President [Volodymyr] Zelensky.... That once again confirms that we had nothing to do with [U.S. political games] from the very beginning. They have just looked for pretexts to attack the elected President,”

Putin said, Sputnik reported.

Nonetheless, Putin stressed, “We will work with any partner, with any President the American people elect. If this is Mr. [Donald] Trump, then we will work with him, if not, then no,” Putin said at the Russian Energy Week.

In response to one question about whether Russia might meddle in the U.S.’s 2020 elections, Putin joked, “possibly ... highly likely. Let me tell you a secret: yes we will definitely do that, just to entertain you even more.” Then seriously, Putin said that Russia is busy resolving its own significant domestic problems, and doesn’t have time to meddle in other nations’ elections.

Putin also commented on the possibility that his private conversations with President Donald Trump might be made public. “My previous life”—as head of the Russian Federation intelligence agency FSB —“taught me that any of my conversations may be published, and I always proceed from this standpoint,” he said.