Former U.S. President Barack Obama did not keep his promises made while he was in office, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said in an interview with American filmmaker Oliver Stone.
The interview appears in a Ukrainian-American director’s documentary scheduled to premiere on Russian state television next week.
“You know, Obama is no longer president, but there are certain things we don’t talk about publicly,” Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency quoted Putin as saying to Stone.
“In any case, I can say that our agreements reached in [a] telephone conversation were not fulfilled by the American side,” Putin said, declining to go further into details.
Elsewhere in the interview, the president said “I haven’t interfered, don’t want to interfere now and don’t plan to” meddle in U.S. presidential elections.
A U.S. special counsel, Robert Mueller, conducted a two-year investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election and whether the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow. Mueller concluded that Russia had meddled in the election, but that the Trump campaign did not illegally conspire with Russia to influence the vote.
“That’s complete nonsense,” Putin told Stone in an excerpt of the interview.
“Our bloggers, whoever they are — I don’t know who works on the internet — couldn’t have played a key decisive role no matter how they expressed their views on the situation in the United States.”
Reuters contributed reporting to this article.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.
