Moscow:Â Russian President Vladimir Putin has a message for the White House and Democratic leaders who accuse him of stealing their candidate's victory: Don't be sore losers.
That was how Putin answered a question on Friday, Moscow time, at his nationally televised annual news conference about whether Russia interfered in the USÂ presidential election in favour of Donald Trump.
More World News Videos
- Video duration
- 01:32
Putin: Democrats blame Russia for loss
Putin: Democrats blame Russia for loss
The US Democratic Party is wrongly trying to blame its defeat in the presidential election on others says Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Up Next
Amazon ships itself to speed up
- Video duration
- 01:22
- Video duration
- 01:22
Amazon ships itself to speed up
Amazon ships itself to speed up
Amazon's Prime Air cargo planes are flying nearly full, taking business away from FedEx and UPS.
Up Next
Trump will inspire jokes: Stephen Colbert
- Video duration
- 00:57
- Video duration
- 00:57
Trump will inspire jokes: Stephen Colbert
Trump will inspire jokes: Stephen Colbert
The comedian says President-elect Donald Trump will continue to be "the story that we can tell with jokes on a daily basis," on CBS News' Face the Nation program.
Up Next
Queen misses Christmas church due to cold
- Video duration
- 00:42
- Video duration
- 00:42
Queen misses Christmas church due to cold
Queen misses Christmas church due to cold
Britain's Queen Elizabeth misses church on Christmas Day for the first time in decades due to a heavy cold, a Buckingham Palace spokesman says.
Up Next
Christmas greetings from the International Space Station
- Video duration
- 01:24
- Video duration
- 01:24
Christmas greetings from the ...
Christmas greetings from the International Space Station
NASA releases a video Christmas message from the crew aboard the International Space Station where the astronauts are spending the holidays and sharing some 'haute' space cuisine.
Up Next
Will and Kate break protocol for Christmas
- Video duration
- 00:54
- Video duration
- 00:54
Will and Kate break protocol for Christmas
Will and Kate break protocol for Christmas
Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge arrive for the Christmas church service at Englefield church, Berkshire, choosing to spend time with members of the Middleton family.
Up Next
Major earthquake strikes Chile, tsunami warning lifted
- Video duration
- 00:32
- Video duration
- 00:32
Major earthquake strikes Chile, tsunami ...
Major earthquake strikes Chile, tsunami warning lifted
Officials remove a tsunami warning for southern parts of coastal Chile after it was issued following a major 7.6 magnitude earthquake that also promoted some evacuations.
Up Next
Netanyahu scolds anti-settlement vote
- Video duration
- 00:53
- Video duration
- 00:53
Netanyahu scolds anti-settlement vote
Netanyahu scolds anti-settlement vote
During his weekly cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a stinging reprimand of the anti-settlement vote at UN Security Council.
Putin: Democrats blame Russia for loss
The US Democratic Party is wrongly trying to blame its defeat in the presidential election on others says Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Democrats "are losing on all fronts and looking elsewhere for things to blame," he told the nearly 1400 journalists packed into a Moscow convention hall for the nearly four-hour event. "In my view, this, how shall I say it, degrades their own dignity. You have to know how to lose with dignity."
The Kremlin leader - who also sent an upbeat letter to Trump last week that the President-elect revealed on Friday - pointed out that Republicans had won the House and Senate, as well.
Related Content
"Did we do that, too?" he asked with a slight grin.
To chide the Democratic leadership, Putin invoked the USÂ president he occasionally mentions as someone he admires. He appears to seek favourable comparison to Franklin Roosevelt, America's longest-serving head of state, because of his own efforts to help Russia prosper after the ruinous depression that followed the Soviet Union's demise.
"Outstanding figures in American history from the ranks of the Democratic Party would likely be turning in their graves. Roosevelt certainly would be," Putin told the journalists.
"Trump understood the mood of the people and kept going until the end, when nobody believed in him," Putin said, adding with another wry smile, "except for you and me".
Trump's transition team said Putin had sent a letter on December 15 wishing Trump a Merry Christmas and conveying a desire "to take real steps to restore the framework of bilateral cooperation in different areas as well as bring our level of collaboration on the international scene to a qualitatively new level".
"A very nice letter from Vladimir Putin; his thoughts are so correct," Trump's transition team quoted the president-elect as saying. "I hope both sides are able to live up to these thoughts, and we do not have to travel an alternate path."
The Russian leader has repeatedly denied involvement in the US election despite the accusations from the White House, and the Kremlin has questioned the evidence for the claims. On Friday, Putin borrowed some of Trump's dismissive rhetoric, remarking, "Maybe it was someone lying on the couch who did it."
Putin also reiterated at the news conference his interest in better ties with the United States after the inauguration of Trump, who, during the campaign, espoused positions favourable to Russia, including joining forces to fight terrorism and considering recognising Russia's annexation of Ukraine.
The Russian president played down the significance of Trump's tweet on Thursday calling for the United States to expand its nuclear arsenal, calling it "nothing unusual" and saying that Moscow did not intend to pursue an arms race "that we can't afford".
Putin did say that Russia was modernising its nuclear strike capability, which he said would enable it to overpower any missile defences the United States is developing. Russia, he said, "will be stronger than any aggressor".
Putin has given one news conference a year at the end of December for the 12 years he has been president (taking a break for the four years he was prime minister). Some have speculated that he might want to move forward the next presidential election, due in 2018, while his popularity sits above 80 per cent, but he dismissed a question on the timing from an American reporter and gave a noncommittal answer on whether he would throw his hat in the ring.
He has consistently refused to confirm whether he will run for office again or retire.
Putin, always concerned with his popularity rating, touted a few items of good news about the Russian economy, hailing what he called record-low inflation of 5.5 per cent and congratulating villagers on this year's harvest. He agreed with a reporter who criticised the lavish homes of managers in state companies.
"One should be more modest," he said.
The event was largely low-key and missing the humorous moments of previous years. Putin also got cheers a couple of times, most notably when he stated, "Patriotism is the only thing that unites us".
In a recent poll by the Yuri Levada Analytical Centre that gave Russians an opportunity to name the issues they consider most important, 30 per cent of respondents mentioned inflation, 28 per cent mentioned the election of Trump, and 22 per cent mentioned Syria. Russia's efforts to mediate the civil war in that country are at the top of the nightly news here.
Putin moved the news conference back a day to attend the funeral of his slain ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, who was shot dead in public by a man shouting slogans about the war in Syria.
Since the assassination, Moscow and Ankara have made a show of their willingness to work together and, along with Iran, bring a settlement to Syria.
Putin touted the alliance's success in negotiating an agreement to evacuate fighters and civilians from the Syrian city of Aleppo, saying, "Without our participation, it would have been impossible."
The Russia-Turkey-Iran troika met in Moscow on Tuesday. The United States' absence was a sign not only of the stalemate of US-Russian talks over Syria but also of the bad blood in the relationship as a whole.
"Mr Trump did, after all, say during the election campaign that he thought it right to normalise US-Russia links and said it would not get worse," Putin said. "Because they cannot get any worse, I agree with him on that. We'll think together about how to make the situation better."
Someone asked whether Putin would accept an invitation from Trump to the United States.
"Of course I will, if he invites me," Putin said.
Washington Post
0 comments
New User? Sign up