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US presidential election 2016

Putin says Trump’s victory in US presidential election changed almost nothing

Putin also noted that Donald Trump was the fourth US president for him

© EPA/MICHAEL REYNOLDS

WASHINGTON, June 14. /TASS/. Victory of the Republican Party’s nominee Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election changed almost nothing, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with Hollywood director Oliver Stone.

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Waiting for the 45th: A look back on Putin’s relations with three US presidents

Stone conducted a dozen interviews with Putin between 2015 and February 2017 for his four-part documentary. The Putin Interviews premiered on Showtime TV channel in the United States on June 12 and will continue through June 15. One of excerpts was released on Wednesday after the debut of the second series of the documentary.

"Almost nothing," the Russian president said answering a question of the Oscar-winning director if Trump’s victory has brought any changes. Putin also said Trump is the fourth US president for him.

Putin also burst out laughing when Stone asked him whether "Trump was in the Kremlin's pocket."

Read also

In the interviews with Stone, Putin outlined his stance on current Russian-US relations, NATO’s policy in Europe and the deployment of the US missile defense system, and touched upon the allegations that Moscow meddled in the US election campaign.

Putin also spoke about the Syrian and Ukrainian crises and about his relations with George Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and his stance on Edward Snowden, a former employee of the US National Security Agency (NSA), who leaked details of extensive Internet and phone surveillance by US intelligence to the media and subsequently requested asylum in Russia. Putin also answered questions about domestic policy, his path to the presidency and presidential terms, without sidestepping thorny issues.

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Foreign policy Vladimir Putin Donald Trump US elections 2016

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