Putin said Trump’s enemies are using the courts against him

Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized the US judicial system, saying it was being exploited by political enemies of former US leader Donald Trump to pursue the Republican presidential candidate.

“Surname [the U.S.] are burning themselves from within, their state, their political system,” Putin told media editors at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum on Wednesday.

“It is clear around the world that prosecuting Trump, especially in court on charges founded on events that occurred years ago without direct evidence, is simply using the judicial system in an internal political struggle”. said, in comments translated by Reuters.

CNBC has reached out to the US Department of Justice for comment.

A jury in New York in late May found Trump guilty of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to a porn star before the 2016 presidential election. Trump denied all allegations and criticized the court proceedings as a “disgraceful, rigged trial.” He is expected to appeal the historic verdict after being convicted on July 11, but legal experts say it is unlikely he will overturn the verdict before the Nov. 5 election.

Asked on Wednesday whether he preferred Trump or incumbent Joe Biden to win the vote, Putin said “it doesn’t matter whether Moscow becomes the next leader of America.” In any case, he said, it is unlikely that US foreign policy toward Russia will change.

“Basically, we don’t care [who wins]”, Putin said. “For us, we don’t think the final result has much meaning. We will work with any president the American people elect.”

He added, “To say – I’m saying it quite sincerely – that we believe that after the election something will change towards Russia in terms of US policy, I wouldn’t say that. We don’t think so. We think nothing really serious will happen.”

Back in February, Putin said he preferred Biden to be the next US president, describe him as a more experienced and predictable politician”.

On Wednesday, he told journalists that Biden was “an old-school politician” while downplaying his support for Trump’s campaign.

“We have never had any special relationship with Mr. Trump,” Putin said, “but the fact that as president he began to impose major sanctions on Russia, he withdrew from the treaty on medium- and short-range missiles.