Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday during the 27th International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg that Moscow is "not interested" who will win the elections in the United States, reported Reuters, quoted by BNR.
"For us, the final result does not matter much," Putin noted, adding that he did not believe there would be very big changes in Washington's policy toward Russia if Donald Trump won the presidency in November, but he still did not rule out a change in thinking.
Speaking to media editors at the Economic Forum in St Petersburg, Putin said Moscow does not care who wins, while accusing current President Joe Biden's administration of making mistake after mistake and of being "burnt to the ground" ; the US political system and global leadership.
"Basically we don't care who wins," he told Reuters when asked if he believed the outcome of the US election would matter to Moscow.
Calling current President Joe Biden a predictable old-school politician, he indicated that Moscow will work with whoever wins and will not interfere in US domestic politics.
"We've never had a special relationship with Mr. Trump, but the fact remains that as president he started imposing massive sanctions on Russia, he pulled out of the Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missile Treaty,'' he said. Putin.
"To say, I speak quite sincerely, that we believe that after the election something will change in relation to Russia in American politics, I would not say that. We don't think so. We think that nothing really serious will happen".
Meanwhile, referring to former US President Donald Trump, Putin commented that he was being persecuted for "political reasons".
According to him, "the conviction" against Donald Trump has only led to an increase in his rating.
"This shows that Americans do not trust the judicial system. It's obvious around the world that prosecuting Trump, especially in a court of law on charges that arose based on events that happened years ago, without direct evidence, is simply an abuse of the judicial system in politics," he said.
Putin also pointed out that European countries are buying expensive liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US. He noted that it was Poland that closed the "Yamal-Europe" gas pipeline, adding that Russia still supplies gas through Ukraine.
The Russian president emphasized that expensive energy will only harm Europeans.
He went on to say that the West had tried to ruin Russia's economy within six months. However, Putin added that it is now clear that they have failed and are only harming themselves. Putin emphasized that the current rates of development of the country's economy must be preserved.
At the same time, the Russian president praised China, saying that the country has managed to create a more efficient model of economic development than the United States. He accused the Western world of trying to limit Beijing's growth, calling the move a "mistake".
China's President Xi Jinping leads the country in a "skillful and professional" way, Putin emphasized, adding that he hopes to talk with him soon on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and BRICS summits.