Vladimir Putin has claimed that Russia supports Vice President Kamala Harris over Donald Trump in November’s presidential election.

Speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on Thursday, Putin said Russia’s “favorite” was formerly President Joe Biden before he withdrew from the race in July, but that the country would now “support” Harris.

“I told you our favorite, if you can call it that, was the current president Mr. Biden. He was removed from the race, but he recommended all his supporters to support Ms. Harris. So we will do the same. We will support her,” Putin said.

“Ultimately, the choice is up to the American people and we will respect that choice,” he added. “As for the favorites, it is not up to us to determine that. It is, after all, the choice of the American people.”

Putin also joked that Harris “laughs so expressively and infectiously” that she must be “doing well.”

He added: “Trump has introduced such a number of restrictions and sanctions against Russia that no president has ever introduced before. And if Ms. Harris is doing well, then maybe she will refrain from actions of this kind.”

The Kremlin previously reacted with caution to news of Harris’ presidential candidacy.

The Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in July: “At the moment, we cannot assess the potential candidacy of Ms. Harris from the point of view of our bilateral relations because so far her contribution to our bilateral relations has not been noticed.

“There were statements that were replete with rhetoric quite unfriendly towards our country, but her actions in relations to bilateral relations come under neither a plus nor a minus sign.”

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