The Latest: Putin wants to visit US, pending Trump invite

Earlier in the marathon news conference, Putin said his meeting with Trump could happen after the U.S. president-elect has built his administration.

The Russian leader says he agrees with Trump’s assessment of the poor U.S.-Russian relations, adding that they “can’t be worse.”

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4 p.m.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he hopes to have a meeting with Donald Trump and discuss how to improve ties.

Putin, speaking at a news conference Friday, said the meeting could happen after the U.S. president-elect completes forming his team.

The Russian leader says he agrees with Trump’s assessment of the current low level of U.S.-Russian relations, adding that they “can’t be worse.”

Russia’s relations with the United States and its allies have plummeted to their lowest level since the Cold War times.

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3:35 p.m.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is offering condolences to the families of the victims of the Berlin terror attack and calling for closer co-operation in fighting terrorism.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for Monday’s attack on a busy Christmas market, which killed 12 and injured 56 others.

Putin said anti-terror co-operation between Russia and the West has been effectively paralyzed by Western sanctions against Russia,

He said the effective termination of contacts between Russian and Western special services has helped perpetrators of terror attacks, adding that “we can only make that fight efficient if we combine our efforts.”

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3:35 p.m.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he will decide later whether to seek another six-year term in 2018.

Putin, speaking at Friday’s end-of-year news conference that lasted for several hours, said he will “look at what will be going on in the country and in the world” to make a decision.

Putin has led Russia since 2000. He shifted into the premier’s seat from 2008 to 2012 due to term limits, but continued calling the shots and reclaimed the top job in 2012.

Asked whether early elections are possible, as some media have speculated, Putin said it was “unfeasible.”

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3:10 p.m.

President Vladimir Putin says Russia will continue efforts to eradicate doping but fails to accept the widespread belief in world sports of a state-backed cheating program.

Speaking at Friday’s news conference, Putin said Russia will work together with the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency to uproot doping, but added that some of the accusations against Russia have been unfair.

He pointed at Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of Russia’s national anti-doping laboratory, accusing him of forging doping evidence against Russian athletes at the behest of foreign forces he didn’t name. Putin said Rodchenkov was forcing Russian athletes to take illegal substances he had brought in from Canada, where he had previously worked.

A WADA investigation has revealed massive tampering with doping samples in what it described as a state-sponsored scheme. Russia has denied the accusations of state sponsorship of doping and promised to help fix the shortcomings.

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2:35 p.m.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says that peace talks sponsored by France and Germany should remain the basis for efforts to settle the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

A peace deal brokered by Berlin and Paris in February 2015 has helped reduce the scale of fighting in eastern Ukraine, where more than 9,600 have died in battles between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia separatists that erupted in April 2014. However, clashes have continued and political settlement has stalled.

Putin said at a news conference Friday that the “Normandy format hasn’t been highly effective but there is nothing else, and work in that format should continue or the situation will deteriorate.”

Responding to demands to release Ukrainian filmmaker Oleh Sentsov and other Ukrainians jailed in Russia, Putin has called for a comprehensive deal to free all prisoners, including those held in Ukrainian prisons.

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2:25 p.m.

President Vladimir Putin says the killing of the Russian ambassador to Turkey will not hurt co-operation between the two nations.

Speaking at an end-of-year news conference Friday, Putin said the killing of Ambassador Andrei Karlov on Monday was “an attack on Russia-Turkey relations.”

Putin noted that the killer was a police officer, saying it reflected a high level of “penetration of destructive forces” into the Turkish military and security forces.

Turkish officials have claimed that the killer had links to the organization of Fethullah Gulen, a preacher who has been living in exile in the United States. Gulen has rejected the allegations.

Putin said that despite the killing, Russia-Turkey relations will remain strong, noting co-operation with Ankara on Syria.

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2:15 p.m.

President Vladimir Putin says it’s necessary to establish a cease-fire across the entire territory of Syria, to be followed by peace talks.

Putin, speaking at an end-of-year news conference Friday, said that now that Syrian government forces have taken full control of Aleppo, “the next stage should be a cease-fire on the entire territory of Syria and the launch of talks on a political settlement.”

He said the leaders of Turkey and Iran, which have helped broker the withdrawal of the remaining civilians and militants from Aleppo, have agreed that Syria peace talks should be held in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana. He added that Syrian President Bashar Assad agrees to that.

Putin says that other regional players, including Saudi Arabia, could help contribute to peace efforts and the United States is welcome to join in.

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2:05 p.m.

President Vladimir Putin says the Russian military’s nuclear missiles can penetrate any missile defence.

Speaking at Friday’s end-of-year news conference, Putin said Russia had to develop the capability after the U.S. in 2001 opted out of a Cold War-era treaty banning missile defence systems.

Putin added that “it’s not us who have been speeding up the arms race.”

He argued that the modernization of Russian nuclear forces is in line with existing arms control agreements, including the New Start Treaty with the United States.

He said that faced with the development of U.S. missile defence systems, Russia has developed nuclear weapons capable of piercing it.

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1:40 p.m.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says U.S. Democrats should have apologized to American voters over the information revealed by hackers who posted Democratic National Committee emails.

Responding to accusations of Russian meddling in the U.S. election, Putin said at an annual news conference Friday that the hackers could have been located anywhere. He shrugged off Washington’s claims of their Russian affiliation.

Asked how he responded to President Barack Obama’s hacking accusations brought up in their conversation, the Russian leader said he never makes confidential conversations public.

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1:35 p.m.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is praising U.S. President-elect Donald Trump for keenly feeling American voters’ mood to win the election, and he rejects the White House’s accusations of meddling in the vote.

Speaking at an annual news conference, Putin said Friday that Russia hopes to develop “businesslike and constructive relations that would benefit both Russia and the United States.”

In response to President Barack Obama, who said “Ronald Reagan would roll over in his grave” upon seeing recent poll results showing that more than one-third of Republicans view Putin favourably, Putin said Reagan would be happy to see his party win.

Putin also criticized the U.S. administration for trying to shift the blame for Hillary Clinton’s defeat by making claims of Russian interference.

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1:30 p.m.

President Vladimir Putin says he sees “nothing unusual” in Donald Trump’s pledge to strengthen the U.S. nuclear forces, calling the statement is in line with the U.S. president-elect’s campaign promises.

Speaking at an annual news conference Friday, Putin also said Russia’s military is stronger than that of any potential aggressor, though he admitted that the U.S. has a bigger military.

“Indeed, they have more missiles, more submarines and more aircraft carriers, we aren’t arguing with that, but we are simply stronger than any aggressor.”

Putin says the Russian military modernization helped strengthen the nation’s nuclear forces.

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1:15 p.m.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says the nation’s economy is on the path to recovery.

Speaking at an annual end-of-year news conference Friday, Putin said the Russian economy is expected to shrink by 0.6-0.7 per cent this year — a much smaller decline compared to 2015 when it contracted by 3.7 per cent.

Russia is enduring a deep recession in the wake of Western sanctions and the sharp drop in oil prices.

Putin said some sectors have posted growth this year, showing that the Russian economy is on the mend.

Despite the economic backdrop, Putin said hard currency reserves of the Russian Central Bank increased this year, from $368 billion to about $385 billion.

The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

The Latest: Putin wants to visit US, pending Trump invite

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