Rat Putin says The U.S. System is Rottenness Being Against His Friend Trump

Birds of a feather stick together

 

Putin says the cases against Donald Trump show the ‘rottenness’ of the U.S. system.

 

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, seen from the back, walking together past unadorned white walls. 

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia at the G20 summit in Japan in 2019 with the U.S. president at the time, Donald J. Trump. Credit...Erin Schaff/The New York Times

President Vladimir V. Putin called the criminal cases against Donald J. Trump good for Russia and an indication of the American system’s “rottenness,” in wide-ranging remarks Tuesday that also touched on the war in Ukraine and Elon Musk.

The Russian leader for years has demonstrated an ability to exploit political divisions within Western nations, often by messaging to conservatives abroad that he is aligned with them in a global fight against liberal values.

His remarks on Tuesday, made at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, in southeastern Russia, appeared aimed at lending firepower to the Republican outcry over the prosecutions of Mr. Trump, who has long expressed public admiration for the Russian leader and has helped encourage a sizable Moscow-friendly contingent within the G.O.P.

Mr. Putin said that the prosecution of Mr. Trump was a “good thing” because it showed “the rottenness of the American political system, which cannot pretend to teach others about democracy.”

“Everything that is happening to Trump is a politically motivated persecution of a political rival. That’s what it is,” he said. “And it’s being done before the eyes of the U.S. public and the whole world. They’ve just exposed their internal problems.”

The cases lay bare “who is fighting us,” Mr. Putin added.

Mr. Trump has continued to express his admiration for Mr. Putin after leaving office, and last year called the Russian leader’s decision to invade Ukraine “pretty smart.”

On Tuesday, Mr. Putin expressed his own admiration for Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of SpaceX whose influence in the Ukraine war has in recent days come under scrutiny.

Mr. Musk acknowledged last week that he had thwarted a Ukrainian attack on Russia’s Black Sea naval fleet in 2022 by refusing to let the Ukrainian military use his satellite network, Starlink, to guide its drones — provoking a furious response from a top official in Kyiv and renewing questions about the global power wielded by a multibillionaire businessman.

The billionaire entrepreneur is an “active, talented businessman,” Mr. Putin said, noting that all around the world Mr. Musk is recognized as an “outstanding person” in private business. The description resembled the way the Russian leader first described Mr. Trump as a “brilliant and talented” individual when he launched his U.S. presidential run in 2015.

— Paul Sonne

 

 The Russian leader also urged Ukraine to negotiate and criticized Western limits on China.

President Vladimir V. Putin at a white podium in a room with long blue curtains framing views of water.

A photograph released by Russian state media showing President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia at an economic conference in Vladivostok, Russia, on Tuesday.Credit...Pavel Bednyakov/Sputnik, via Reuters

President Vladimir V. Putin on Tuesday called on Ukraine to reverse its ban on negotiating with him, even as he claimed that Russia had signed up hundreds of thousands more troops for its war effort.

The remarks came in wide-ranging comments at an economic conference in Russia’s eastern city of Vladivostok as Mr. Putin prepared to meet with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, who arrived in Russia on Tuesday.

Here is some of what the Russian leader said:

Talks with Ukraine: Asked to comment on Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken’s comments that he sees no indication Mr. Putin is interested in “meaningful diplomacy,” Mr. Putin said that Ukraine should rescind a ban on negotiations with Russia while Mr. Putin is in power. President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a decree in September 2022 declaring talks with Mr. Putin impossible, but left open the possibility of negotiations with Russia.

Military recruitment: Some 270,000 Russians have voluntarily signed up for service in the past six to seven months, with 1,000 to 1,500 more signing up each day, Mr. Putin claimed, in the latest sign that he intends Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to continue. He skirted a question about the possibility of another round of mobilization to replenish Russian forces.

China: Western nations are trying to restrain China’s development because they see how the country, under Xi Jinping’s leadership, is developing by leaps and bounds, Mr. Putin said. “They are doing everything to slow the development of China, but this will not be possible,” he said, adding: “They are late. The train has left the station.” Mr. Putin has forged closer ties with Mr. Xi, in part to overcome Western sanctions, and the two leaders declared an enduring economic partnership after talks this year in Moscow.

Arkady Volozh: The co-founder of the Russian tech company Yandex, who condemned Russia’s war in Ukraine as barbaric, was likely “forced to make certain statements” in order to be on good terms with the authorities in Israel, where he moved after leaving Russia. “Well, God bless him, may he have a good life there,” Mr. Putin added. Mr. Volozh resigned from his post as the chief executive of Yandex, often described as Russia’s Google, last year after the European Union placed him under sanctions for “materially or financially” supporting the invasion.

Capital flight: Mr. Putin called on businessmen to keep their money inside Russia, warning them that “we see what is happening with capital, where it is moving.” He also said that Western governments’ seizures of Russian assets had “crossed all lines.” In July, a report from Russia’s central bank said $253 billion had been pulled out of Russia since the start of the war.

— Paul Sonne