Putin says ‘ready’ to talk with ‘courageous’ Trump

But Moscow has long been seen as welcoming Trump’s anti-establishment credentials and the chaos he has injected into American and global politics.

Moscow was widely accused of interfering in the 2016 presidential election to boost Trump’s campaign against Hilary Clinton. The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected those charges.

The Kremlin leader on Thursday also said he was impressed by how Trump handled himself during an assassination attempt at a rally earlier this year.

“He turned out to be a courageous person,” Putin said.

“People show who they are in extraordinary circumstances. This is where a person reveals himself. And he showed himself, in my opinion, in a very correct manner, courageously. Like a man,” Putin said.