MOSCOW:
Russia's Vladimir Putin said on Friday he was unfazed by President-elect Donald
Trump's plans to boost the U.S. nuclear arsenal, praising Trump for being in
touch with U.S. public opinion while branding the Democrats sore election
losers.
Speaking at his annual news conference in
Moscow, the Russian president said earlier comments he had made about his
country's own military modernisation had been misunderstood in the United
States and that he accepted that the U.S. military, not Russia's,
was the most powerful in the world.
Putin said
on Thursday Russia's military was "stronger than any potential
aggressor". Trump later tweeted that the United States "must greatly
strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes
to its senses regarding nukes."
Asked to clarify his comments on Friday, MSNBC
reported that Trump had said: "Let it be an arms race. We will outmatch
them at every pass and outlast them all."
But Putin said he did not regard the United
States as a potential aggressor and had only been talking about countries he
thought might realistically launch an attack on Russia.
"I was a bit surprised by the statements
from some representatives of the current U.S. administration who for some
reason started to prove that the U.S. military was the most powerful in the
world," Putin said, referring to State Department comments from Thursday.
"Nobody is arguing with that."
Putin said he saw nothing new or remarkable
about Trump's own statement about wanting to expand U.S. nuclear capabilities
anyway.
"In the course of his election campaign he
(Trump) spoke about the necessity of strengthening the U.S. nuclear arsenal,
and strengthening the armed forces. There's nothing unusual here," said
Putin.
"(We are talking about) a party which has
clearly forgotten the original meaning of its own name. They (the Democrats)
are losing on all fronts and looking elsewhere for things to blame. In my view
this, how shall I say it, degrades their own dignity. You have to know how to
lose with dignity."
The Obama administration and U.S. intelligence
officials have accused Russia of trying to interfere with the U.S. election by
hacking Democratic Party accounts. Information from those hacks was leaked
online, causing political problems for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
Putin dismissed suggestions Moscow had helped
Trump to victory in any way however.
"It's not like that," he said.
"All of this (the accusations) speaks of the current administration's
systemic problems."
Putin, who spoke positively of Trump before his
election win, said that only Moscow had believed in his victory however.
"Trump understood the mood of the people
and kept going until the end, when nobody believed in him," Putin said,
adding with a smile. "Except for you and me."
Putin said he would be willing to visit the
United States if Trump invited him and expected U.S.-Russia ties to return to
normal now, particularly in the security and economic spheres.
He was more cagey when it came to his own
political future though, saying he needed time before deciding whether he would
run for president again in 2018. Most Kremlin-watchers believe he will stand
and win again.
"I will look at what's going on in the
country, in the world," said Putin coyly, calling a reporter who had asked
him to provide reasons why people would want to vote for him again "a
provocateur".
Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/56146390.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
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