Russian President Vladimir Putin said he preferred Democratic US presidential nominee Kamala Harris over Republican candidate Donald Trump and cited reasons for his choice.
In an interview at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, on Thursday, Putin said, “We had the current president, Mr [Joe] Biden, as our favourite, but he is not participating in the election race. He recommended that all his allies support Ms Harris. That's what we are going to do, we are going to support her.”
Putin also lauded Kamala Harris’ "infectious" laugh. “Secondly, she has such an expressive and infectious laugh. It shows that she's doing well,” he said in the interview. A video clip from the interview was shared by several media channels on Thursday.
Putin criticised Trump for imposing “such a number of sanctions on Russia as no president before him has ever imposed.” He hoped that Harris would not take such actions.
“If Ms Harris is doing well, perhaps she will refrain from taking these kinds of actions. We will see in the end. It's the American people's choice, and we will respect that choice,” Putin added.
However, Russian President Vladamir Putin's comment drew criticism from US officials. White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby reacted to Putin's comment, saying, “Mr. Putin ought to stop talking about our elections, period.”
Kirby said Putin shouldn’t be favouring anybody one way or another. “The only people who should get to determine who the next president of the United States is is the American people. And we would greatly appreciate it if Mr. Putin would, A, stop talking about our election and, B, stop interfering in it,” he added.
This came days after the US Justice Department said the Russian state-owned broadcaster RT was carrying out a covert campaign to influence the American public ahead of the election.
The Kremlin, however, dismissed previous allegations of interference in US elections, from 2016 and onward, as nonsense. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson vowed to retaliate against US media in Russia, the Associated Press reported.
