Putin said he does not expect any change in US policy after the presidential election.

“We’ve never had a special relationship with Mr. Trump,” he said.

St. Petersburg:

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday he does not expect any major changes in US policy toward Russia if Donald Trump wins the presidency in November, but did not rule out the possibility of a shift in thinking.

Speaking to media editors at an economic forum in St. Petersburg, Putin said Moscow does not care who wins, while accusing the Biden administration of making persistent mistakes and “destroying” the US political system and global leadership.

When asked by Reuters if he thought the outcome of the U.S. election would make any difference to Moscow, he said, “Basically, we don’t care (who wins).”

Describing current President Joe Biden as an old-fashioned politician, he said Moscow would work with whoever wins and would not interfere in domestic US politics.

“We have never had any special relations with Mr. Trump, but the fact is that as president he started imposing massive sanctions on Russia, he withdrew from the treaty on medium- and short-range missiles,” Putin said.

“To say – I’m being completely honest – that we believe there will be some change in U.S. policy toward Russia after the election, I would not say that. We don’t think so. We think nothing really serious will happen.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)