Putin ‘doesn’t remember’ Trump missile threats

Comments made in the heat of the US election campaign shouldn’t be taken too seriously, the Russian president has said

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he could not recall a conversation with Donald Trump in which the former US president threatened to attack Moscow.

Putin was answering reporters’ questions after the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia on Thursday. At one point, someone brought up Trump’s comments.

“I don’t remember such a conversation with Mr. Trump,” the Russian president said. “The US presidential campaign is currently at such a heated a stage, I would suggest not to take anyone’s statements too seriously.”

Addressing the alleged threat on principle, Putin said it was “pointless to threaten Russia, since this only emboldens us.”

Earlier this week, in a meeting with Wall Street Journal editors, Trump told a story about a conversation he allegedly had with Putin at some point during his presidency. According to Trump, he told Putin that if Russia went “after Ukraine,” the US would “hit you so hard” and “right in the middle” of Moscow.

When Putin purportedly voiced his disbelief, Trump claimed to have said, “You’re going to be hit so hard, and I’m going to take those f**king domes right off your head.” The US politician apparently confused the Kremlin with the nearby St. Basil’s Cathedral.

READ MORE: Threatening Russia only emboldens us – Putin

Trump has repeatedly claimed that the current Russia-Ukraine conflict would not have happened had he stayed in office after 2020, and that he would find a way to end it within days of getting re-elected.