Putin: U.S. Election Outcome Irrelevant for Moscow, Court System Used Against Trump

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on Wednesday that the outcome of the U.S. presidential election holds little significance for Moscow, asserting that U.S. policy towards Russia is unlikely to change regardless of who wins. Speaking at an economic forum in St. Petersburg, Putin accused the Biden administration of a series of mistakes that he claimed were eroding the U.S. political system and its global leadership.

“Basically, we don’t care who wins,” Putin said in response to a Reuters question about the U.S. election’s potential impact on Russia. “For us, the end result holds little significance. We will work with any president the American people elect.”

Putin described current President Joe Biden as a predictable, old-school politician but dismissed any notions of Russian interference in U.S. domestic politics, a charge frequently leveled by U.S. intelligence agencies. Reflecting on former President Donald Trump’s tenure, Putin noted that despite the perception of closer ties, Trump’s administration had imposed significant sanctions on Russia and withdrawn from key arms control treaties.

“We have never had any special ties with Mr. Trump. As president, he started imposing massive sanctions on Russia, he withdrew from the treaty on intermediate and shorter-range missiles,” Putin said. “To say that we believe something will change towards Russia in American policy after the elections, I would not say so.”

However, Putin did suggest that a shift in U.S. policy could occur if Washington realigned its focus towards national interests and internal strengthening. “No one in the United States is interested in Ukraine; they are interested in the greatness of the United States,” he remarked, implying that U.S. support for Ukraine was more about American self-interest than concern for Ukraine.

In a pointed critique of the U.S. judicial system, Putin claimed it was being manipulated for political purposes against Trump. He described the legal actions against the former president as a transparent political maneuver that was damaging the U.S. from within. “It is obvious all over the world that the prosecution of Trump, especially in court on charges that were formed on the basis of events that happened years ago, without direct proof, is simply using the judicial system in an internal political struggle,” Putin asserted.

Putin’s comments come amid ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Russia, exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, which Putin defends as a preemptive move against NATO expansion. This conflict has plunged U.S.-Russia relations to their lowest point since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

The Russian president’s remarks underscore the deep-seated skepticism in Moscow regarding any potential thaw in bilateral relations, regardless of the outcome of the upcoming U.S. presidential election.