Putin Says He Has Never Had a Close Relationship With Trump

(Bloomberg) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin talked down his relationship with Donald Trump, saying he’s never been close to the U.S. leader.

“In my opinion, we have good, businesslike relations, and a relatively stable level of trust,” Putin said during the plenary session of Russian Energy Week. “We’ve never been close, and aren’t now.”

The relationship between the two leaders is coming under scrutiny again after U.S. Democrats indicated they will seek records of phone calls between them as part of an impeachment inquiry. The Kremlin has said Russia would have to give consent before the transcripts are published. Putin said on Wednesday there is nothing compromising in the material and that he knows “any conversation can be published -- I always proceed from that.”

Trump has spoken about his interactions with the former KGB spy in glowing terms, referring to a 1 1/2 hour phone conversation in May as “very positive.” Putin in the past has repeated referred to Trump as ‘Donald,’ while discussing their relations. The American leader this summer endorsed readmitting Russia into the Group of Seven and has often called for efforts to improve U.S. relations with the Kremlin.

Trump’s desire to work with Putin comes despite the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies and former Special Counsel Robert Mueller that Russia interfered in the 2016 election in an effort to help him win.

Putin once again dismissed allegations that Russia has influenced American politics. When asked by moderator Keir Simmons of NBC News if he planned to meddle in the 2020 U.S. presidential elections, Putin joked: “as a secret between ourselves, yes, definitely.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Ilya Arkhipov in Moscow at iarkhipov@bloomberg.net;Jake Rudnitsky in Moscow at jrudnitsky@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Torrey Clark at tclark8@bloomberg.net, Natasha Doff

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