Putin says Trump is ‘absolute leader’ in U.S. presidential race

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladi­mir Putin ranged from conflict zones to U.S. politics Thursday in a news conference in which he tried to close gaps with Washington over Syria, noted that Moscow remained engaged in Ukraine and gave a nod to Donald Trump as the “absolute leader” in the White House race.

Putin — over three hours of questions and some overtime remarks — also touched on Russia’s battered economy and tense relations with Turkey over the downing of a Russian warplane.

Many of Putin’s comments circled back to relations with the United States, including a bit of look-ahead musing on the White House race. Putin said Russia would work with “whomever the American voters choose,” but he singled out Trump.

“He’s a very lively man, talented without doubt,” Putin said according to the Interfax news service after the news conference. He added that Trump is the “absolute leader in the presidential race.”