US gripped by false 'spymania'

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday said the US was in the grip of a fabricated spymania whipped up by President Donald Trump's opponents but he thought US-Russia ties would recover one day.

Putin, who said he was on first name terms with Trump, also praised the US president for what he said were his achievements.

"I'm not the one to evaluate the president's work. That needs to be done by the voters, the American people," Putin told his annual news conference in Moscow, in answer to a question.

"(But) we are objectively seeing that there have been some major accomplishments, even in the short time he has been working. Look at how the markets have grown. This speaks to investors' trust in the American economy."

Trump took office in January, saying he was keen to mend ties which had fallen to a post-Cold War low. But since then, ties have soured further after US intelligence officials said Russia meddled in the presidential election, something Moscow denies.

Putin dismissed those allegations and the idea of a Russia connection as "fabricated." He shrugged off accusations that Russia's ambassador to the United States had done something wrong by having contacts with Trump campaign figures saying it was "international practice" for diplomats to try to have contacts with all candidates in an election.

"What did someone see that was egregious about this? Why does it all have to take on some tint of spymania?," said Putin.

"This is all invented by people who oppose Trump to give his work an illegitimate character. The people who do this are dealing a blow to the state of (US) domestic politics," he added, saying the accusations were disrespectful to US voters.

Washington and Moscow had many common interests, he said, citing the Middle East, North Korea, international terrorism, environmental problems and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

In one of the most dramatic moments of the news conference, Ksenia Sobchak, a TV personality, asked him about what she said was the lack of political competition.

In particular, Sobchak asked about the case of opposition leader Alexei Navalny who looks unlikely to be allowed to run in the March election.

Putin, who polls suggest will be comfortably re-elected , warned that candidates like Navalny would destabilise Russia and usher in chaos if elected.

Putin disclosed he planned to run as an independent candidate and garner support from more than one party, in a sign the former KGB officer may be keen to strengthen his image as a "father of the nation" rather than as a party political figure.