Russian president Vladimir Putin said that they “have nothing to do with” President Trump’s decision to fire FBI Director James Comey, whose bureau is conducting an investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.
CBS News foreign correspondent Elizabeth Palmer caught up with Putin in Sochi, where he was preparing to participate in a hockey game.
She asked him how the firing of Comey will affect relations between the United States and Russia.
“There will be no effect,” he told her. “Your question looks very funny for me. Don’t be angry with me. We have nothing to do with that. President Trump is acting in accordance with his confidence and in accordance with his law and constitution.”
At the White House, Trump met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and Russian media was allowed in to take photos of the two. But when the White House press pool was summoned to the Oval Office, Trump was seated next to Henry Kissinger, the former secretary of state under Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Trump said that Kissinger was there to talk about “Russia and various other matters.”
When Trump was asked why Comey was fired, he said, “He wasn’t doing a good job. Very simply, he was not doing a good job.”
Our @elizapalmer caught Russian Pres. Putin rink side and asked him about the firing of former. Dir. Comey. pic.twitter.com/3nytJYi0si
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) May 10, 2017
