MOSCOW. Jan 24 (Interfax) - Russia has never refused contact with a U.S. administration and the relations with U.S. President Donald Trump have always been businesslike and trust-based, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" program host Pavel Zarubin.
"The U.S. president made a lot of statements on the matter. First of all, I want to say that Russia never refused contact with the U.S. administration. That the current administration has refused such contact is not our fault. And my relations with the current U.S. president have always been entirely businesslike, and at the same time pragmatic and trust-based, I would say," Putin said when asked by Zarubin to comment on Trump's recent statements
"I cannot disagree with him in that if he'd been president, if he hadn't had his victory stolen in 2020, then perhaps, there would have never been the crisis in Ukraine that erupted in 2022. Although it is known that Trump, during his first iteration as president, had also introduced a considerable number, the largest number of restrictions, sanctions against Russia by then. I don't think that was a decision that corresponded with the interests of not only Russia but the U.S. itself," Putin said.
Biden had picked up that "relay baton" and the result is known: very many decisions were made that were harmful for the economy of the U.S. itself, he said, citing as an example the "erosion of the power of the dollar itself" after it was banned from use by Russia in payments.