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Putin says his relationship with Trump rather trusting, but not close

The Russian leader said there has been no progress in Russia-US relations so far but Moscow expects that sooner or later, reason will prevail in Washington

MOSCOW, October 2. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that his relationship with US counterpart Donald Trump is based on trust, but is not close.

Commenting on the forum moderator’s words at the Russian Energy Week that the Russian-US ties might have been affected by the relations between the two countries’ presidents, Putin noted that Russia had found itself dragged into "the US domestic political squabbles" before he met Trump.

The Russian president pointed out that he "has never been close" with the US president.

"It does not exist now. To my mind, we have a business-like, good relationship of rather stable trust, but a close relationship between President Trump and me has not in the least affected the domestic political squabbles in the United States," he stressed adding that "all the scandals in the US had broken out before we met and got acquainted with Trump.

"What closeness is meant here? There was no closeness," Putin stressed.

There has been no progress in Russia-US relations so far but Moscow expects that sooner or later, reason will prevail in Washington, Putin said.

"We believe that reason and vital interests - I would like to highlight it: the vital interests of the United States - will play a role, and relations between Russia and the US will return to normal. However, it hasn’t happened yet," the Russian leader pointed out.