Putin praises Donald Trump as ‘bright and talented’

MOSCOW – In Vladimir Putin’s view, Donald Trump is “bright and talented.” But as much as those words sound overtly like praise, there are some murky nuances.

The most unequivocally favorable part of the comments the Russian leader made Thursday to a scrum of reporters after his annual year-end news conference was about the Republican presidential aspirant’s claims that he wants to improve relations with Russia.

“He says that he wants to move to another, closer level of relations. Can we really not welcome that? Of course we welcome that,” Putin said.

Trump hasn’t given details about how he would go about achieving that.

“I think that I would probably get along with him very well,” Trump said in an October interview with CBS.

Russia-U.S. relations have hit a particularly low point during the Obama administration, with the Kremlin persistently alleging Washington’s pressure on Moscow over human rights and the sanctions imposed over Crimea and the conflict in eastern Ukraine are a cover for fomenting unrest aimed at driving Putin out of office.

While the Obama administration regarded Russia’s airstrikes in Syria gingerly, Trump was a full-throated supporter.

“If Putin wants to go and knock the hell out of ISIS, I am all for it … ” he said during a presidential debate.

On that count, the Russian word Putin used to describe Trump not only means “bright” in terms of intelligence, but also “vivid” and even “gaudy.”

Trump said in a statement he was honored by the comments.

“I have always felt that Russia and the United States should be able to work well with each other towards defeating terrorism and restoring world peace,” he said. “Not to mention trade and all of the other benefits derived from mutual respect.”