Putin: ‘I have no disappointment at all’ with Trump

Russian President Vladimir Putin touted his personal relationship with President Trump on Wednesday, saying that he has “no disappointment” in the two leaders’ communications so far.

In an interview with Russian state television reported by The Associated Press, Putin heaped praise on Trump while claiming that America’s political system was devouring itself.

“I have no disappointment at all,” Putin said. “Moreover, on a personal level he made a very good impression on me.”

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“[The U.S. political system] has demonstrated its inefficiency and has been eating itself up,” the Russian leader added. “It’s quite difficult to interact with such a system, because it’s unpredictable.”

Putin and Trump met face-to-face last July at the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, and again in November when the two leaders were in Vietnam.

Putin’s comments come the same day Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. told Politico that lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been largely unwilling to meet with Moscow’s diplomats over the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment that the Kremlin interfered in the 2016 presidential election.

“The Congress, overwhelmed by Russophobia, is led by politically biased emotions, rather than a clear-thinking mind,” Anatoly Antonov said. “We are bluntly told they fear criticism.”

“All I hear is ‘meddling, interference,’” he added. “I don’t know these words. I want to talk about friendship, cooperation.”

In February, special counsel Robert Mueller indicted 13 Russian nationals for allegedly stealing the identities of Americans and using them to spread divisive or inaccurate information on social media in key swing states during the 2016 election.

Russia’s government has flatly denied the accusations, while U.S. lawmakers have accused the Trump administration of not confronting the Putin government over election meddling.