‘Talented’ Trump wins praise from Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annual, nationally televised year-end news conferences have been compelling political theater in recent years. Thursday’s was no exception as he spent a marathon three hours and eight minutes answering questions before 1,400 journalists in Moscow. Highlights:
Donald Trump: After the news conference, Putin said the Republican presidential frontrunner “is a very outstanding man, unquestionably talented.” Putin shrugged off criticism of some of Trump’s proposals — such as temporarily barring Muslims from entering the USA — as well as attacks Trump has lobbed at the Russian leader. “It is 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 said. Trump said in October that he would “probably get along very well” with Putin.
Ukraine: After months of denials, Putin admitted for the
first time that his country’s military operates in separatist-held east Ukraine. Putin said Russia had no regular troop presence in the region, but “certain matters, including in the military area” were being performed.
The Islamic State:
Putin said the extremist group is a creation of “elements tied to the oil trading ” who “needed a military force to protect smuggling operations and illegal exports.” The Islamic State “is a business, a huge trafficking operation run on an industrial scale,” Putin said. He claimed that the Russian Defense Ministry spotted 11,000 oil trucks in one place. “Unbelievable,” he said.
Syria: Putin said he is prepared to work more closely with the United States to end Syria’s 4year-old civil war because Washington appears ready to “move toward settling the issues that can only be settled through joint efforts.” The two nations are at odds over Syrian President Bashar Assad, a Russian ally backed by Russian airstrikes against rebel groups, some of which are backed by the USA. President Obama wants Assad to step down.