“The US is exposing the rotten nature of its political system to the world,” the Russian president says. The numerous criminal charges against former US President Donald Trump amount to persecution and showcase the rot in the American political system, Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated.

The US in its current state cannot claim the right to teach others democracy, the Russian leader said during a panel discussion at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. ‘The things that are happening to Trump are the persecution of a political competitor… That is what it is. And it is done in the full view of the US public and the entire world,’ he added.

‘The controversy is beneficial to Russia in the sense that it exposes Washington for what it is. The US government chose to be hostile to Moscow and has propagandized its population into perceiving it as such,’ he argued.

Moscow does not expect any substantial change in US foreign policy vis-a-vis Russia, regardless of who takes the White House after next year’s election, the president said. ‘Trump was accused of having a special relation with Russia, which is total nonsense and bulls**t. But he was the president who introduced the most sanctions against Russia,’ Putin noted.

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The American elites predominantly perceive Russia as a threat to its hegemony, Putin believes. The country also has friends in the US, who want good relations and share Russia’s views on traditional values, the president added, but those voices are being suppressed.

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Since leaving office, Trump has been charged with numerous crimes at both the federal and state levels, ranging from election tampering to inciting the January 6 Capitol riot to financial improprieties. The businessman-turned-politician, who is the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for the presidency, has said that his legal woes amount to a witch hunt by his opponents.

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