04:57Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that the USA was not fighting for Ukrainians but for its own 'greatness and leadership in the world', while speaking at a meeting with the heads of the world's leading news agencies on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Wednesday.
"I think you agree with me that nobody in the United States is interested in Ukraine. They are interested in greatness. The US is not fighting for Ukraine and for the Ukrainians, but for its greatness and leadership in the world. They do not want to allow Russia to succeed in any way, precisely because they believe that it would be harmful to the US leadership. That's the whole point," he said.
Putin also called the charges against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump 'ridiculous', emphasising that Moscow had always perceived it as an 'element of the internal political struggle in the United States'.
"It is obvious all over the world that prosecuting Trump, especially in court, on charges that are based on events that took place years ago without direct evidence, is simply using the judicial system in the course of an internal political struggle," he claimed.
Trump was recently convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records, related to an alleged $130,000 payment to an adult film star. He denied all the charges, calling the case a 'disgrace', politically motivated and adding that 'we're living in a fascist state'.
Putin concluded by saying that Moscow would work 'with any president the American people elect', even though he did not expect anything to change in US politics 'in the Russian direction' after the election.
Representatives of news agencies from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the USA, Uzbekistan, China, Iran, the UK, Turkey, Korea, Italy, Germany, Japan, Spain and France took part in the conversation with the Russian President.
SPIEF 2024, held from June 5-8, is expected to attract over 17,000 people from across 136 countries. The forum has been an annual event since 1997.
US not fighting for Ukrainians, but for 'greatness and leadership' in the world - Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that the USA was not fighting for Ukrainians but for its own 'greatness and leadership in the world', while speaking at a meeting with the heads of the world's leading news agencies on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Wednesday.
"I think you agree with me that nobody in the United States is interested in Ukraine. They are interested in greatness. The US is not fighting for Ukraine and for the Ukrainians, but for its greatness and leadership in the world. They do not want to allow Russia to succeed in any way, precisely because they believe that it would be harmful to the US leadership. That's the whole point," he said.
Putin also called the charges against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump 'ridiculous', emphasising that Moscow had always perceived it as an 'element of the internal political struggle in the United States'.
"It is obvious all over the world that prosecuting Trump, especially in court, on charges that are based on events that took place years ago without direct evidence, is simply using the judicial system in the course of an internal political struggle," he claimed.
Trump was recently convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records, related to an alleged $130,000 payment to an adult film star. He denied all the charges, calling the case a 'disgrace', politically motivated and adding that 'we're living in a fascist state'.
Putin concluded by saying that Moscow would work 'with any president the American people elect', even though he did not expect anything to change in US politics 'in the Russian direction' after the election.
Representatives of news agencies from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the USA, Uzbekistan, China, Iran, the UK, Turkey, Korea, Italy, Germany, Japan, Spain and France took part in the conversation with the Russian President.
SPIEF 2024, held from June 5-8, is expected to attract over 17,000 people from across 136 countries. The forum has been an annual event since 1997.
Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that the USA was not fighting for Ukrainians but for its own 'greatness and leadership in the world', while speaking at a meeting with the heads of the world's leading news agencies on the sidelines of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Wednesday.
"I think you agree with me that nobody in the United States is interested in Ukraine. They are interested in greatness. The US is not fighting for Ukraine and for the Ukrainians, but for its greatness and leadership in the world. They do not want to allow Russia to succeed in any way, precisely because they believe that it would be harmful to the US leadership. That's the whole point," he said.
Putin also called the charges against Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump 'ridiculous', emphasising that Moscow had always perceived it as an 'element of the internal political struggle in the United States'.
"It is obvious all over the world that prosecuting Trump, especially in court, on charges that are based on events that took place years ago without direct evidence, is simply using the judicial system in the course of an internal political struggle," he claimed.
Trump was recently convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records, related to an alleged $130,000 payment to an adult film star. He denied all the charges, calling the case a 'disgrace', politically motivated and adding that 'we're living in a fascist state'.
Putin concluded by saying that Moscow would work 'with any president the American people elect', even though he did not expect anything to change in US politics 'in the Russian direction' after the election.
Representatives of news agencies from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the USA, Uzbekistan, China, Iran, the UK, Turkey, Korea, Italy, Germany, Japan, Spain and France took part in the conversation with the Russian President.
SPIEF 2024, held from June 5-8, is expected to attract over 17,000 people from across 136 countries. The forum has been an annual event since 1997.