Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made it clear that Russian President Vladimir Putin would support Vice President Harris in the next presidential election, saying the president was joking.
Earlier this month, Putin called Harris' laughter “contagious” and cited that, along with her potential to change U.S. sanctions against Russia, as reasons for supporting her over former President Trump.
“She laughs expressively and contagiously, so that means all is well with her,” he said at an event in Vladivostok, Russia, on September 5.
Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Massachusetts) From Russian authorities In a September 5 interview with CNN, he called Putin's remarks “classic double entendre.”
This is not the first time Putin has endorsed a Democratic candidate in this election: he said earlier this year that he would support President Biden over President Trump because he thought Biden was a more “predictable” candidate.
In an interview with Sky News Arabia on Friday, Lavrov said Putin has a “sense of humor” and is just joking, and he doesn't think Harris will necessarily change the sanctions.
“I don't see any long-term difference in our attitude towards this election or any previous elections, because the United States is controlled by the notorious 'deep state',” Lavrov said.
Harris campaign spokesman Ian Sams appeared on CNN shortly after Putin's comments and denied any support from the Russian president.
“I think we all know who the world's autocrats and tyrants prefer in this election: They want President Trump,” Sams said. “We reject the divisive and authoritarian leadership shown by someone like President Putin. Putin's invasion of Ukraine was terrible, and the vice president has been a leader, working with the president, in rallying the world against it.”
During the presidential debate, Harris said that if Trump had been in the White House for the last four years, Putin would have outmaneuvered him, taken Kiev and set his sights on Poland.
Harris said Trump would “say to Putin, 'I'm going to be eaten for lunch,' and give up.”
During the debate, Trump said he would resolve the war before he became president and criticized the Biden administration for not doing more.
“Everything they said was weak and stupid and wrong,” he said. “That war should never have started.”
Trump did not say whether he wanted Ukraine to win the war.
