Russian President Vladimir Putin has echoed Donald Trump's claim that the four criminal indictments the former US leader faces amount to political persecution, saying the cases expose the “rottenness” of the American political system.
Mr Putin, who has a long track record of persecuting political rivals including Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, also said he did not expect any change in US foreign policy towards Russia regardless of who wins the 2024 presidential election.
Mr Trump is currently facing one state-level and three federal indictments, including two that accuse him of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election that he lost to Democrat Joe Biden by more than seven million votes.
The former president, who is favourite to win the Republican nomination to run again next year, has pleaded not guilty and has described the prosecutions as a political witch hunt.
“As for the persecution of Trump, for us, in the current environment, it's good because it shows the rottenness of the American system,” Mr Putin said at an economic forum in the far eastern city of Vladivostok.
“It is a politically motivated persecution of one's competitor.”
As president, Mr Trump was investigated for possible collusion with Russia but special counsel Robert Mueller did not find sufficient evidence that his campaign had co-ordinated with Moscow to influence the 2016 election in which he defeated Hillary Clinton.
The Kremlin has repeatedly spoken out in defence of the former president.
Relations between Washington and Moscow, strained by a litany of issues under Mr Putin, have hit new lows since Russia invaded Ukraine last year.
Mr Putin said he did not expect any change in US foreign policy towards Russia regardless of “whoever will be elected president” next year.
He accused Washington of stoking anti-Russian feelings among ordinary Americans.
“Current authorities have directed American society in an anti-Russian spirit,” the Russian leader said.
“They've done it and now somehow turning this ship in the other direction will be very difficult.”
Mr Trump last year called Mr Putin's invasion of Ukraine “genius” and said it would have never happened “in a million years” if he were still president because he knows the Russian leader “very well”.
The Republican leader has claimed, without elaborating, that he could end the Ukraine war within 24 hours.
One hundred days of the Ukraine counter-offensive – in pictures
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This week marks 100 days of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, which began in the early hours of Sunday, June 4. Getty Images -
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visiting brigades engaged in offensive operations in the Bakhmut sector, eastern Ukraine, in Donetsk region, in September. AFP -
A Ukrainian serviceman of the 47th Magura Separate Mechanised Brigade prepares a M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle for combat in Zaporizhzhia region, south-east Ukraine, in September. Reuters -
Displaced Ukrainian citizens from Russian-occupied territories board a train to Kyiv from Sumy, north-east Ukraine, in September. Getty Images -
Ukrainian servicemen in a Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft gun in Zhytomyr region, northern Ukraine, in September. Reuters -
A Ukrainian serviceman loads a shell into a mortar, in Zaporizhzhia region, in September. Reuters -
A Ukrainian unit breaches mine defences, near Hulyaipole, in Zaporizhzhia region, in August. Reuters -
A damaged high-rise in Moscow, following an alleged Ukrainian drone attack, in August. Reuters -
A member of the 47th Magura Separate Mechanised Brigade greets a civilian, in Robotyne, Zaporizhiza region, in August. Reuters -
Mr Zelenskyy greets a crowd in front of the Danish Parliament, in Copenhagen, in August. Reuters -
Ukrainian servicemen of the 108th Separate Brigade of Territorial Defence fire rockets near the front line in Zaporizhzhia region, in August. Reuters -
A Ukrainian serviceman carries a drone during training in Zaporizhzhia region, in August. Reuters -
Ukrainian soldiers stand with Ukrainian flag in Urozhaine, Donetsk Region, eastern Ukraine, in August. Reuters -
Ukrainian soldiers with a Marder 1A3 armoured fighting vehicle, during a media day of the EU Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine in Germany, in August. Reuters -
Ukrainian border guards stand next to a border sign on Snake Island in the Black Sea, in August. Reuters -
Police at the site where a Ukrainian drone targeting the Russian capital was downed by an air defence system, in western Moscow, in August. AFP -
Ukrainian soldiers with a rocket launcher in Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, in August. Getty Images -
Ukrainian soldiers in Serebryansky Forest, Luhansk region, in eastern Ukraine, in July. Getty Images -
A Ukrainian soldier inspects a destroyed Russian tank in the village of Novodarivka, Luhansk region, in July. Reuters -
Widow Lubov Doroshenko, 67, returns to her destroyed home in Bohorodychne, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, in July. Getty Images -
A Ukrainian soldier with the 110th Brigade demonstrates tactical movements in a trench, in Novodarivka, Luhansk region, in July. Getty Images -
A Ukrainian serviceman of the 57th Kost Hordiienko Separate Motorised Infantry Brigade fires a 2S22 Bohdana self-propelled howitzer near the city of Bakhmut, in July. Reuters -
Mr Zelenskyy visits a frontline position in Berdyansk, Zaporizhzhia region, in June. EPA -
Russian Wagner Group mercenaries on a street in Rostov-on-Don, southern Russia, during a short-lived mutiny in June. AP
