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Bill Clinton: Putin kept his word, he can be trusted

US ex-president reckons Putin as 'very smart'
Photo EPA/TANNEN MAURY
Photo EPA/TANNEN MAURY

NEW YORK, September 26 (Itar-Tass) - Ex-President of the USA Bill Clinton believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin can be trusted. "He kept his word in all the deals we made," Clinton told the CNN in an interview on Wednesday.

"Mr. Putin is very smart," Clinton pointed out. He said he knows the Russian president well, and they have a "brutally blunt" relationship. In response to a question whether the Russian leader had ever broken his word, the former US president replied, "Never. He had never reneged on a personal agreement with me".

When touching upon the Russia-US initiative about putting Syria's chemical weapons under international control, Clinton said the United States will "just have to see what happens" over efforts to disarm Syria of its chemical weapons. "You work for the best and prepare for the worst in this business. But I think it would be a terrible mistake not to take advantage of the opportunity", Clinton pointed out.

Clinton had left the US presidency in January 2001, several months after Putin became president.