‘No secret deal’

There have been no secret agreements between the Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak and the Trump administration, Putin said at Friday’s Q&A session in St. Petersburg.

“My answer is – no!… No talks had even started,” the president told the forum, adding that he was surprised with all the fuss surrounding the work of the Russian diplomat in the US and calling anti-Moscow allegations “delirious.”

“It’s not even clear where all the people spreading such information come from… So, the ambassador meets someone. And what is an ambassador supposed to do? It’s his job, he’s being paid for that. He must be meeting people, discussing pending issues, making agreements. What else is he supposed to do there? Visit some venues that would then see him fired?” Putin wondered.

The panic surrounding some of Trump’s decisions is blown way out of proportion, Putin noted at the forum. Commenting on the US president’s decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement, the Russian leader joked that now any weather-related issues can be blamed on “American imperialism.”

“By the way, we should be thankful to President Trump. I’ve heard it has been snowing in Moscow today, and here it’s raining, and terribly cold. Now we can blame it all on him and on American imperialism, hold them accountable,” Putin said. “But we will not do that,” he added, smiling.