Putin: US Election None of Our Business

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The attempts to humiliate US President Donald Trump by accusing him of ties with Russia just play into Moscow’s hands and upgrade its status, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

“When someone is trying to humiliate or insult the incumbent head of state they anyway elevate you and me and talk about our incredible influence and might. To a certain degree, this plays into our hands,” Putin said in an interview with Rossiya-24 TV channel on Wednesday.

The Russian president stated that Moscow is not interfering in the US election campaign, it is up to voters to make their choice about the candidates.

“Voters, in this case US citizens, should evaluate the positions of the candidates running for president of such a great world power, frankly speaking, like the United States,” he commented.

“We are uninvolved onlookers, we are not interfering,” the Russian leader noted.

“It is none of our business, after all, let them deal with each other as they see fit based on the developments unfolding,” he added.

Touching on the acrimony from both sides and the mud-slinging between the candidates during the current campaign, Putin labelled it all as “manifestations of the level of political culture or lack thereof.” “However, I repeat, we are not going to get involved in this. That is all determined by domestic political processes, domestic political issues and US matters,” the Russian president stressed.

Putin said that Russia is willing to work with any American president who will be elected by the citizens of the United States. “We will be ready to work with any future US president, with that person who the American people will vest their trust in.”

Putin pointed out that there were many pluses and minuses in bilateral relations during Trump’s term in the office.

Speaking about the positives, in particular, he lauded the increased trade volume and stabilization on energy markets, while among the negatives, Putin mentioned the sanctions and Washington’s pullout from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. “(Presidential) candidate (Joe) Biden has publicly said that he is ready to extend New START (Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms – TASS) or to sign a new treaty on limiting strategic offensive arms,” the Russian leader noted. “Now, this is a serious element of our potential future cooperation.”