He played it mostly straight on U.S.-Russian relations, but President Vladimir Putin couldn’t resist a dig at Washington’s consuming scandal Thursday, saying fired FBI Director James B. Comey is welcome in Moscow if things get too hot back home.
Mr. Putin made the facetious offer as part of his latest annual marathon phone conversation with the Russian people, in which voters are allowed to submit any question they want — political or personal — to the authoritarian Russian leader.
President Trump dismissed Mr. Comey last month, citing his unhappiness with the FBI’s continuing probe into charges of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion between Russian agents and members of the Trump campaign. Mr. Trump has dismissed the probe as a “witch hunt,” but Mr. Comey’s leaked memos and riveting testimony on Capitol Hill have helped keep the investigation going.
“If [Mr. Comey] faces certain consequences after this and so on, we would be ready to offer Mr. Comey political asylum in Russia,” Mr. Putin said, likening the former director to Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor now living in Russia in 2013 after leaking classified information from the spy agency.
Mr. Putin’s four-hour-long interview Thursday focused on a broad range of domestic social issues, with Mr. Putin addressing matters such as poverty, wages, and sanctions.
He took questions from citizens calling in from around the country — including a man who was appeared on camera 20 minutes after his baby was born. Most questions came from citizens who complained about their low salaries, and Mr. Putin said he was working to address these issues.
And as is customary, Mr. Putin received a few oddball and impertinent questions from callers and texters, from “Where would you go in a time machine?” to “Which leader has the strongest handshake?” When asked to pressure the Russian soccer team to play better, Mr. Putin responded that the team will improve if young players have enough time to develop.
Mr. Putin even took time to answer an angry viewer who called the entire Q&A exercise a sham.
“Do you truly believe that the nation actually believes these staged questions?” someone asked.
“These questions are not staged,” Mr. Putin responded.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.