MOSCOW, August 1. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin was surprised by the assassination attempt on US presidential candidate Donald Trump in terms of security failures, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda radio station.

"I can say that [Putin] was much surprised, because, <...> the level that should be provided for the protection of participants in the political struggle during elections, especially in a country like the United States, of course, nowadays it should minimize such dangers and threats," he said in response to a question about Putin's reaction to the attempt to assassinate Trump.

He noted that such attacks are censured and condemned by everyone, and the Russian president thus expressed "universal human feelings" towards the person with whom he had maintained regular contact. "Of course, such news cannot be ranked as pleasant," the Kremlin spokesman summarized.

Former US President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on July 13. A bullet grazed the ex-president’s ear. As a result of the shooting, one of his supporters was killed. The attacker, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by Secret Service agents. The FBI are investigating the shooting at Trump’s rally as a possible domestic terrorism attack and assassination attempt.