Putin warms to Trump, flexes muscles on Syria

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday appeared to cosy up to US President-elect Donald Trump while stamping his authority as the key powerbroker in Syria, reports AFP from Moscow. At his annual end-of-year press conference, the confident Kremlin strongman praised Trump for tapping into the public mood in the US to claim his surprise win in the elections. “He went to the end, though nobody believed that he would win except us,” Putin said. Ties between Moscow and Washington have hit their lowest point since the Cold War under President Barack Obama due to the Ukraine crisis and Russia’s military intervention in Syria. But the election of Trump, who praised Putin as a strong leader, has provided a surprise fillip for the Kremlin, with the Russian economy still struggling due to Western sanctions and lower oil prices. Officials in the US have accused Russia of cyber attacks aimed at interfering with the US vote, with some alleging Moscow sought to tip the balance in favour of Trump. Putin, however, backed Trump’s rejection of the allegations, insisting “as the president-elect said entirely correctly, who knows who these hackers were?”
The Russian leader also sought to play down a potential nuclear stand-off with the future US president, a day after they both pledged to bolster their nuclear capabilities. Putin insisted there was “nothing unusual” about Trump’s call in a tweet Thursday to bolster America’s nuclear capability, hours after he ordered his top brass to strengthen Moscow’s “nuclear potential”.

Putin warms to Trump, flexes muscles on Syria

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday appeared to cosy up to US President-elect Donald Trump while stamping his authority as the key powerbroker in Syria, reports AFP from Moscow. At his annual end-of-year press conference, the confident Kremlin strongman praised Trump for tapping into the public mood in the US to claim his surprise win in the elections. He went to the end, though nobody believed that he would win except us, Putin said. Ties between Moscow and Washington have hit their lowest point since the Cold War under President Barack Obama due to the Ukraine crisis and Russias military intervention in Syria. But the election of Trump, who praised Putin as a strong leader, has provided a surprise fillip for the Kremlin, with the Russian economy still struggling due to Western sanctions and lower oil prices. Officials in the US have accused Russia of cyber attacks aimed at interfering with the US vote, with some alleging Moscow sought to tip the balance in favour of Trump. Putin, however, backed Trumps rejection of the allegations, insisting as the president-elect said entirely correctly, who knows who these hackers were? The Russian leader also sought to play down a potential nuclear stand-off with the future US president, a day after they both pledged to bolster their nuclear capabilities. Putin insisted there was nothing unusual about Trumps call in a tweet Thursday to bolster Americas nuclear capability, hours after he ordered his top brass to strengthen Moscows nuclear potential.