MOSCOW _ President Vladimir Putin said Russia was the only country that expected Donald Trump to win the U.S. presidential election, and accused Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton of being a bad loser.
Trump has his "finger on the pulse of the mood of society," Putin said at his annual press conference in Moscow on Friday. "He went all the way, even though no one believed that he would win, apart from you and me," he said, to applause in the packed hall.
Democrats who have accused Russia of helping to rob Clinton of victory through a hacking campaign aimed at bolstering Trump "are looking for someone outside to blame," Putin said. The Democratic Party was also defeated in elections to the Senate and Congress, the Russian leader said, quipping: "Is that also our work, my work?"
Russia is looking to the prospect of improved ties with the incoming Trump administration to help end a period of international isolation that led to U.S. and European sanctions over the annexation of Crimea and Russian involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine. The punitive measures, together with the collapse in oil prices, helped pushed Russia's economy into its longest recession in two decades.
Trump has questioned U.S. intelligence agency findings that Russia hacked the Democratic National Committee and Clinton's campaign, as the allegations of Russian electronic intrusion continue to generate alarm among both Democrats and Republicans. The Obama administration ordered a further review of the hacking this month.
Earlier this month, the Washington Post reported that a CIA official had told Congress that Russia's goal was to help Trump win the election, not just to create confusion, a finding that not all intelligence agencies are prepared to make. NBC News reported that intelligence officials it didn't identify have concluded Putin was personally involved in decisions on the hacking and the release of purloined material.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the NBC report as "amusing rubbish that has no basis in fact."
