Putin Defends Trump Against ‘Spurious’ Impeachment by Democrats

(Bloomberg) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin rode to the defense of Donald Trump by dismissing the “spurious” impeachment of the American leader as an attempt by his political opponents to oust him.

The vote against Trump in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives reflects a continuing “domestic political battle” in the U.S., Putin told his annual end-of-year press conference in Moscow on Thursday. “The party that lost the election, the Democratic Party, is trying to reach its goal by different means,” he said.

Trump’s presidency is far from over, since Republican lawmakers who control the Senate “are unlikely to want to drive out of power a representative of their own party,” he said.

Putin, who has repeatedly rejected findings by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia intervened to help get Trump elected in 2016, mocked the Democrats for targeting Trump over allegations he abused his office by pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate his rival Joe Biden. At their summit in Helsinki last year, Putin told reporters that he’d wanted Trump to win the election.

The Kremlin leader’s marathon press conference lasted more than 4 hours and was attended by more than 1,000 journalists from around Russia and the world. Increasingly resembling his annual phone-in with ordinary Russians eager to secure his help in resolving local problems, the president faced questions mostly on domestic issues including pensions, rubbish disposal and the high cost of flights between Moscow and Russia’s far east. Many participants held up large signs to try to attract his attention to their local region.

In a break from tradition, Putin moved straight to questions from journalists without delivering opening remarks that usually have focused on the state of the Russian economy. That may be because a long-awaited rebound in living standards that he promised at last year’s event hasn’t materialized. Economic growth isn’t expected to exceed 1.3% this year, well below the 1.8% that Putin forecast at the 2018 press conference.

Putin brushed off a question on when living standards will rise after five years of falling incomes. He said boosting economic growth and productivity is a priority, but didn’t offer any solutions.

The Federal Statistics Service revised up income data for the first nine months of the year just before the press conference, citing new information from government agencies. The central bank has warned that Russia won’t be able to significantly revive the economy without structural reform.

Putin endorsed possible constitutional changes but remained coy about his plans beyond 2024, when his current term ends and he is legally bound to step down. He said he was aware of proposals to increase the powers of parliament and adjust those held by the traditionally strong president and weaker prime minister.

Two Terms

“I understand the logic of those who are suggesting these things,” Putin said. “But all this can only be done after serious preparations and a wide discussion within society, and it should be done very carefully.”

He did suggest that he supported calls to change the constitution to prevent future presidents from doing what he’s done, by limiting them to two terms in total and not two consecutive terms under the current rules.

Putin has been in power since 2000 and is in his fourth term as president. Between his second and third terms, he ceded the presidency to Dmitry Medvedev and served as Prime Minister for four years to 2012.

He also avoided a direct response when a BBC Russian service reporter asked when he would admit that two public figures whose projects rely on support from his friends, state companies and officials are his daughters. Saying the journalist “named one woman, and a second one,” Putin said the question mistakenly implied they were the beneficiaries of the businesses they run.

Other highlights included:

• Putin expressed disappointment at the Trump administration’s refusal to respond to Russian offers to extend the New START nuclear treaty, which expires in 2021. If there’s no new arms-control agreement, “there won’t be anything to halt the arms race,” he warned.
• He hit back at criticism from Germany, which expelled two Russian diplomats after accusing Moscow of failing to cooperate in the investigation into the murder of a Chechen man in Berlin. Putin, whose government kicked out two German embassy staff in response, denounced Zelimkhan Khangoshvili as a “killer,” accusing him of killing 98 people and of links to a deadly bombing in the Moscow subway.
• Any attempt to re-open the 2015 peace accord intended to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine will mean “we end up in a total dead-end,” Putin said. He added that he’s “alarmed” at recent comments on the issue by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
• Putin said Russia is “on the way” toward sealing a natural gas transit deal with Ukraine, potentially alleviating the risk of supply disruptions in the New Year.
• He questioned the scientific consensus that human activity is the cause of climate change as Moscow experiences the highest December temperatures for 133 years. Still, he acknowledged the climate is changing and said Russia needs to maximize efforts to fight it.

--With assistance from Natasha Doff, Stepan Kravchenko, Evgenia Pismennaya, Irina Reznik and Jake Rudnitsky.

To contact the reporters on this story: Ilya Arkhipov in Moscow at iarkhipov@bloomberg.net;Henry Meyer in Moscow at hmeyer4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Gregory L. White at gwhite64@bloomberg.net, Tony Halpin

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