Vladimir Putin

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President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov speaks with The Associated Press in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, April 6, 2017. Peskov told The Associated Press that Russia's support for Syrian President Bashar Assad is not unconditional, with Putin's Spokesman talking just days after a suspected chemical weapons attack on a Syrian rebel-held province.(AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

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President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov speaks with The Associated Press in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, April 6, 2017. Peskov tells The Associated Press that Russia's support for Syrian President Bashar Assad is not unconditional, with Putin's Spokesman talking just days after a suspected chemical weapons attack on a Syrian rebel-held province.(AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

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FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2003, file photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, and Sen. Charles Schumer D-N.Y., second from right, are escorted through New York's first Lukoil gas station by Lukoil President Vagit Alekperov, left, in New York City. Lukoil is the giant Russian oil company. Putin later traveled to meet with President George W. Bush at the Camp David presidential retreat. President Donald Trump, his administration under siege for contacts with Russian officials, is calling for "an immediate investigation" into Schumer tie's to Russian Putin. Trump’s evidence? A 14-year-old photo of Schumer and Putin holding coffee and doughnuts in a New York City gas station. (AP Photo/Scout Tufankjian, File)

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Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a joint news conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the parliament building in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017. On his first trip to the European Union since the U.S. presidential election, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday visited Hungary, the nation whose leader has cozied up to Moscow despite Russia-West tensions. (Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

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Russian President Vladimir Putin, a former KGB lieutenant colonel, has been a leading advocate for the use of secret intelligence operations for information warfare. The most dangerous form of his plans has been assassinations of political opponents. (Associated Press)

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FILE - In this Jan. 8, 2016, file photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, competes against Russian national coach of judo, Italy's Ezio Gamba, during Russia's national Judo team training session in the resort city of Sochi, Russia. Putin grappled on the mat with his country’s Italian judo coach, liked what he saw and granted Enzio Gamba Russian citizenship. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

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Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, listens to Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in Moscow, Russia on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016. Putin is ordering to scale down the Russian military presence in Syria. Putin made the statement Thursday while declaring that a cease-fire in Syria brokered by Russia and Turkey will start at midnight. (Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

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Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to the media upon his arrival to attend a Session of Collective Security Council on Monday, Dec. 26, 2016, in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2016. Putin has declared a nationwide day of mourning for victims of the crash of a Russian plane that plunged into the sea with 92 people aboard. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

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Russian President Vladimir Putin

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FILE - In this Friday Dec. 23, 2016 file photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia. Putin has declared a nationwide day of mourning for victims of the crash of a Russian plane with 92 people aboard that fell into the Black Sea. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, file)

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Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures during his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Dec. 23, 2016. Putin expressed hope that he would meet soon with Trump to discuss how to improve the two countries' relations. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

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Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his annual news conference in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Dec. 23, 2016. Putin says U.S. Democrats should have apologized to American voters over the information revealed by hackers who posted Democratic National Committee e-mails. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

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Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, attend the talks at a summit with the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and France at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016.(Mikhail Klimentyev/Pool Photo via AP)

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Russian President Vladimir Putin grimaces as he attends the Business Russia Congress in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016. Putin said that Russia would offer more freedom to private business to help offset the impact of Western sanctions.(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, pool)

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Illustration on the influence of Vladimir Putin on Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign by Alexander Hunter/The Washington Times

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Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an exchange of agreements' ceremony in the beach resort state of Goa in western India, Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016. Leaders of India and Russia on Saturday began their annual talks that concluded with new defense deals and the smoothing over of recent irritants in their decades-long close relationship. Modi and Putin also discussed regional security issues and the threat posed by global terrorism. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

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Worldly Ambitions of Vladimir Putin Illustration by Greg Groesch/The Washington Times

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Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures as he speaks during an awarding ceremony for Russia's Olympians in Moscow's Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday attacked the ban on his country from the Rio de Janeiro Paralympics as immoral and inhumane. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)