--- title: Putin Says Russia Would "Welcome" a Trump Presidency description: Putin commented on the U.S. Presidential race during his annual press conference canonical: https://time.com/4153183/putin-trump-presidency/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-17T14:59:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:40:28.160Z article:section: Politics og:title: Putin Says Russia Would 'Welcome' a Trump Presidency og:description: He called Trump the "absolute leader" in the presidential race og:url: https://time.com/4153183/putin-trump-presidency/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltddf21d945497d90d/698875d3f887dc11c4e93c93/vladimir-putin-donald-trump-press-conference.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5184 og:image:height: 2916 og:image:alt: vladimir-putin-donald-trump-press-conference og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Putin Says Russia Would 'Welcome' a Trump Presidency twitter:description: He called Trump the "absolute leader" in the presidential race twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltddf21d945497d90d/698875d3f887dc11c4e93c93/vladimir-putin-donald-trump-press-conference.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Putin Says Russia Would 'Welcome' a Trump Presidency > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=109f4e93-1e7b-4e98-b21a-e21e38cea73e&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: TIME Raw: Putin Gives 2015 Year End Remarks [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Raw: Putin Gives 2015 Year End Remarks](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/LpMyPu94.m3u8) (1:36)  _Published 2015-12-17. Russian President Vladmir Putin gives year end remarks_  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Dec 17, 2015 2:59 PM UTC  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Dec 17, 2015 2:59 PM UTC Russian President Vladimir Putin says that he could envision Russia [welcoming relations](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/putin-no-major-gaps-with-washington-over-efforts-to-end-syria-conflict/2015/12/17/a178255e-a431-11e5-8318-bd8caed8c588%5Fstory.html?tid=sm%5Ffb) with a U.S. led by Donald Trump. During his annual year-end press conference on Thursday, Putin called Trump the “absolute leader in the presidential race,” the Washington _Post_ reports. “He’s saying he wants to go to another level of relations, closer, deeper relations with Russia,” Putin continued. “How can we not welcome that? Of course we welcome that.” Putin also said Trump is “a very lively man, talented without doubt,” but added that Russia would work with “whomever the American voters choose.” Trump has [previously said](http://time.com/3978915/donald-trump-putin-comment/) he would “get along very well” with the Russian president. \[[_Washington Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/putin-no-major-gaps-with-washington-over-efforts-to-end-syria-conflict/2015/12/17/a178255e-a431-11e5-8318-bd8caed8c588%5Fstory.html?tid=sm%5Ffb)\] ## Transcript We know about the great dependence of our economy, external economic factors, and the appraisals of export for oil, gas production, and starting from the premise that the average price for oil is $ 100 a barrel. The beginning from 2014 We counted everything from that figure on income, expenditure, support, and the social sphere, the economy. It became $ 50. We consider and we counted the budget, based on that figure, that was optimistic. $ 50 per barrel. and now it's $ 38. The actions of these authorities concerning our plane was an enemy act, where a military plane was shot down and somebody was killed. What was particularly troubling, if it had just been an accident that we heard about, that the Turkish authorities didn't know it was a Russian plane, what would he do in this case? Well people died. People just pick up the phone and they explain to each other. Instead of that, they start saying that we have been insulted. Who is being insulted? 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