Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated Thursday he’s annoyed he hasn’t yet met President Donald Trump, the Washington Post reports.
Putin decried “lies” in the U.S. that prevent Trump from “implementing his agenda,” a central part of which is bettering relations with the Russian federation. Putin suggested that reports of Russian meddling in the 2016 election were “fictional, illusory provocations [and] lies,” used to further “domestic American political agendas.”
After an American reporter asked Putin point-blank whether Russia meddled in the 2016 election, Putin defiantly replied “Read my lips – no.” Putin’s comments echo the same vehement denials made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in an Wednesday interview with the National Interest. Lavrov called meddling accusations “absolutely groundless” and “Russophobic.”
Putin added that U.S. accusations will “come to a close” at “a certain point,” and he would eventually get to meet Trump.
Trump is scheduled to attend major world summits throughout the summer of 2016, offering him two opportunities to meet Putin. Former President Barack Obama also used these summits as opportunities to meet Putin, without formal state visits.
“Do we want to completely destroy our diplomatic relations, to bring the situation to how it was in the 1960s, with the Cuban missile crisis?,” Putin said to reporters. Putin and Lavrov’s comments indicate they are anxious to better relations between the U.S. and Russia.
Lavrov laid out his view of “normal” relations saying it is “to treat your partners with respect, not to try to impose some of your ideas on others without taking into account their own views and their concerns, always to try to listen and to hear, and hopefully not to rely on a superiority complex.”
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