On Oct. 7, Russian President Vldimir Putin gave an interview on Rossiya television network, including some extensive discussion on U.S.-Russian relations and the U.S. elections. The transcript of the interview is posted on the Kremlin website http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/64171 Rossiya TV journalist Pavel Zarubin raised the question of the U.S. elections and mentioned that Biden had accused Trump of being “Putin’s puppy.” Putin replied: “We are the onlookers; we do not interfere in the process.… By the way, when anyone tries to humiliate or insult the incumbent head of state, in this case in the context you have mentioned, this actually enhances our prestige, because they are talking about our incredible influence and power. In a way, it could be said that they are playing into our hands, as the saying goes.”
Putin also ventured his election advice that voters study the real positions of someone who would occupy such a powerful position: “I would like to say openly that the positions of presidential candidates in any country, including a great power such as the United States, must be assessed by the voters. In this particular case, by the people of the United States….
I would like to repeat what I have said more than once before. We will work with any future President of the United State, the one whom the American people give their vote of confidence.”
