VLADIVOSTOK, Russia: Russia wants Kamala Harris to win the US presidential election, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday in an apparently ironic comment, citing her “infectious” laugh as a reason to prefer her over Donald Trump.
Putin was speaking a day after the US Justice Department charged two Russian media executives over an alleged illegal scheme to influence the November election with pro-Russian propaganda.
The Kremlin leader had said earlier this year, before President Joe Biden withdrew from the race — also with apparent irony — that he preferred him over Trump because Biden was a more predictable “old school” politician.
Asked how he viewed the election now, Putin told an economic forum in Russia’s far east that it was the choice of the American people.
But he then added that as Biden had recommended his supporters to back Harris, “we will do the same, we will support her.”
“She laughs so expressively and infectiously that it means that everything is fine with her,” Putin said, adding that maybe this meant she would refrain from further sanctions against Russia.
US intelligence agencies believe Russia wants Trump to win because he is less committed to supporting Ukraine in the war against Russia.
But Putin said Trump, as president, had introduced more sanctions against Russia than anyone in the White House before him.
Russia backs Kamala Harris in US election, says Putin
https://arab.news/j6jdn
Russia backs Kamala Harris in US election, says Putin
- Putin: As Biden had recommended his supporters to back Kamala Harris, ‘we will do the same, we will support her’
- Putin says Donald Trump had introduced more sanctions against Russia than anyone in the White House before him
China says Philippines distorted facts about incident near disputed atoll
- The Chinese ministry defended its coast guard’s actions as “reasonable, lawful, professional and restrained”
BEIJING: China’s defense ministry accused the Philippines on Wednesday of distorting the facts about an incident involving the Chinese coast guard and Filipino fishermen near a South China Sea shoal, a charge Manila strongly rejected.
The Philippine coast guard said over the weekend that three Filipino fishermen were injured and two fishing vessels damaged when Chinese coast guard ships cut their anchor lines and fired water cannon near the Sabina Shoal on Friday, actions the Philippine defense secretary denounced as “dangerous” and “inhumane.”
The Chinese ministry defended its coast guard’s actions as “reasonable, lawful, professional and restrained,” and vowed to “take strong and effective measures” in response to “all acts of infringement and provocation,” according to a statement released on its social media account.
“The Philippine side amassed a large number of ships in an organized and premeditated manner to illegally intrude” into the atoll’s lagoon, the ministry said. “Philippine personnel even threatened Chinese coast guard on site with a knife,” it added.
Philippine defense ministry spokesperson Arsenio Andolong maintained that Manila has evidence to counter China’s assertions.
“The facts are not distorted. They are documented, timestamped, and corroborated by video recordings, vessel logs, and on-site reporting by the Philippine Coast Guard,” Andolong said in a statement.
“The Philippines is not hyping the issue, the facts speak for themselves. These are aggressive and excessive actions of an encroaching state,” he added.
Sabina Shoal, which China refers to as Xianbin Reef and the Philippines as the Escoda Shoal, lies in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone 150 km (95 miles) west of Palawan province.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a waterway supporting more than $3 trillion of annual commerce. The areas Beijing claims cut into the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
An international arbitral tribunal ruled in 2016 that Beijing’s sweeping claims had no basis under international law, a decision China rejects.
