FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

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Putin Complains Trump-Russia Probe Hurts U.S.-Russian Relations

May 27, 2018 (EIRNS—Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the investigations targetting President Trump are interfering with improved relations with Moscow, reported Associated Press, whose Vice President Ian Phillips took part in an international news meeting in St. Petersburg with Putin on May 25.

Putin stated that he has had little contact with President Trump. “We are hostages to this internal strife in the United States,” Putin said on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. “I hope that it will end some day, and the objective need for the development of Russian-American relationships will prevail.”

In his wide-ranging remarks to reporters, and also during the televised conference, Putin also said he would step down at the end of his presidential term in 2024, adhering to the Russian Constitution term limits for two consecutive presidential terms.