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Kremlin Views Trump's Tweets as Official Statements, Says Putin's Spokesman

MT

Donald Trump’s tweets are interpreted as official statements by the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman told journalists on Tuesday. 

Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin receives regular updates on Trump’s comments on Twitter, alongside a summary of statements made by other leaders.

“Everything which is published on his official Twitter account, is considered in Moscow to be an official statement,” Peskov was cited as saying by the state-run TASS news agency.

Peskov declined to give an assessment of the U.S. president’s tweets. 

The U.S. president's tweets regularly raise eyebrows. During heightened tensions with North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, Trump referred to him on Twitter as “rocket man.” 

On Putin and Russia, Trump has generally been positive. In a July 2016 Tweet, he said: "The new joke in town is that Russia leaked the disastrous DNC e-mails, which should never have been written (stupid), because Putin likes me.”

Putin does not have a Twitter account, Peskov told journalists. 

"He doesn't want to run it himself," Peskov said, "but he also doesn't think it an option for someone else to do it, such as someone from the press service or presidential administration."

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