Russian president does not believe he can play Trump ‘like a fiddle’ - Putin’s spokesman replies to John Bolton

The Kremlin has dismissed former US National Security Advisor John Bolton’s claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin is able to manipulate his American counterpart Donald Trump.

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Friday that Putin does not believe he can exploit or control the US leader.

“No, Putin cannot play Trump like a ‘fiddle’. What he thinks about Trump, he himself has repeatedly said in many interviews,” Peskov explained.

Bolton’s memoir, due to be published next week, has set off a storm of controversy in the US. The former official describes Trump as a person who trusts Putin more than his own intelligence services. Bolton also alleges that the Russian president perceives Trump as a weak opponent.

In one instance, Bolton writes that Trump asked an aide whether Finland was part of Russia. The US president has slammed the book as a mixture of lies and fictional stories.

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