Former President Donald Trump on Oct. 15 declined to confirm if he had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin since leaving office in 2021 but said, "If I did, it’s a smart thing."
Trump had previously denied claims from journalist Bob Woodward’s book that he had multiple phone calls with Putin after leaving the White House, calling it "absolutely wrong."
During an interview with Bloomberg at the Chicago Economic Club, he refused to comment directly on the matter, saying: "If I did, it’s a smart thing... If I’m friendly with people, if I have a relationship with people, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing, in terms of a country."
He also reportedly added: "Russia has never had a president that they respect so much."
Earlier, Trump said that during his presidency, he "(got) along very well with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin," implying that the Russian leader often talked about his ambition to control Ukraine.
The comments came three weeks before the U.S. presidential election, which can have a profound impact on Washington's support for Ukraine's struggle against Russian aggression.
"I get along very well with Putin. I got; I fully understand what's happening," the Republican candidate for U.S. presidency said at a town hall event in Oaks, Pennsylvania, regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"It (Ukraine) was the apple of his eye; he used to talk about it. But I said, 'You're not going in,' and he wasn't going in."
Kateryna Denisova
