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epa08762124 Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with members of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) via teleconference at the state residence of Novo-Ogaryovo, outside Moscow, Russia, on 21 October 2020. EPA-EFE / ALEXEI DRUZHININ / KREMLIN POOL / SPUTNIK MANDATORY CREDIT
MOSCOW, Oct 25 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday that he saw nothing criminal in Hunter Biden’s past business ties with Ukraine or Russia, marking his disagreement with one of the attack lines. of Donald Trump in the US presidential election.
Putin was responding to comments made by Trump during televised debates with Democratic challenger Joe Biden before the Nov.3 election.
Trump, who lags behind in opinion polls, has used the debates to make accusations that Biden and his son Hunter engaged in unethical practices in Ukraine. No evidence to support the allegations has been verified, and Joe Biden has called them false and discredited.
Putin, who has praised Trump in the past for saying he wanted better ties with Moscow, has said Russia will work with any American leader, while pointing to what he called Joe Biden’s “sharp anti-Russian rhetoric.”
Putin appeared less friendly to Trump in remarks broadcast on Russian state television on Sunday. In what some analysts may see as an attempt to try to win the favor of the Biden camp, he took the time to reject what he made clear that he considered Trump’s false accusations about the Bidens.
“Yes, in Ukraine he (Hunter Biden) had or maybe still has a business, I don’t know. It does not concern us. These are Americans and Ukrainians, ”Putin said.
“But hey, yes, he had at least one company, which he practically headed, and judging by everything, he made a lot of money. I don’t see anything criminal in this, at least we don’t know anything about this (being a criminal) ”.
Putin also reacted with visible irritation when asked about comments Trump has made about Putin’s ties to the former Moscow mayor and an alleged payment made to Hunter Biden by the former mayor’s widow. Putin said he knew nothing about the existence of a business relationship between Hunter and the woman. Joe Biden says the accusation about his son is not true.
US intelligence agencies concluded that Russia tried to interfere in the 2016 US presidential election to tip the race in Trump’s favor, a charge that Moscow has denied. Russia has also rejected accusations by US intelligence agencies of trying to interfere in this year’s elections as well.
(Reporting by Andrew Osborn Edited by Frances Kerry)
