US election 2020: Russia’s Putin rejects Trump’s criticism of Biden family business
- Russian president makes new US-related comments before November 3 election
- Putin defends Joe Biden’s son, expresses visible irritation with some Trump remarks
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he saw nothing criminal in Hunter Biden’s past business ties with Ukraine or Russia, marking out his disagreement with one of Donald Trump’s attack lines in the US presidential election.
Trump, who is trailing in opinion polls, has used the debates to make accusations that Biden and his son Hunter engaged in unethical practices in Ukraine. No evidence has been verified to support the allegations, 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 would work with any US leader, while noting what he called Joe Biden’s “sharp anti-Russian rhetoric”.
Putin appeared less friendly towards Trump in remarks broadcast by Russian state TV on Sunday. In what may be seen by some analysts as an attempt to try to curry favour with the Biden camp, he took the time to knock down what he made clear he regarded as false allegations from Trump about the Bidens.
“Yes, in Ukraine he (Hunter Biden) had or maybe still has a business, I don’t know. It doesn’t concern us. It concerns the Americans and the Ukrainians,” said Putin.
