Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in the presentation ceremony for the Russian Hero of Labour gold medals on Poklonnaya Hill as the nation marks Russia Day in Moscow on June 12, 2020. – President Vladimir Putin on June 12, 2020, was set to make his first public appearance after weeks of lockdown as Russia reported nearly 9,000 new coronavirus cases in one day. Russia, the country with the world’s third-largest coronavirus outbreak, this week lifted tight lockdown restrictions as Putin sets the stage for a vote on July 1 that could extend his hold on power until 2036. (Photo by Mikhail Klimentyev / SPUTNIK / AFP)
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday that the US anti-racism protests were a sign of deep crises in the country, in his first comments on the situation.
“What has happened is a sign of some deep-seated internal crises,” Putin said in an interview with Rossiya 1 television, asked to comment on events in the US in recent days.
He linked the unrest to the coronavirus pandemic, saying: “It shows there are problems. Things connected to the fight with the coronavirus have shone a spotlight on general problems.”
The Russian television channel has posted an extract from the interview, to be broadcast in full Sunday evening, billed as Putin’s first interview since the start of the pandemic.
He contrasted the virus situation in the US and Russia, saying that while “we are exiting the coronavirus situation steadily with minimal losses, God willing, in the States it isn’t happening that way.”
Russia on Sunday confirmed 8,835 new virus cases, taking its total to 528,964, the third-highest in the world, while the US has the largest number of cases by far at 2.07 million.
Putin criticized a lack of strong leadership on the virus situation in the US, saying that “the president says we need to do such-and-such but the governor somewhere tells him where to go.”
“I think the problem is that group interests, party interests are put higher than the interests of the whole of society and the interests of the people.”
In Russia, “I doubt anyone in the government or the regions would say ‘we’re not going to do what the government says, what the president says, we think it’s wrong,'” Putin said of the virus strategy.