Putin says Trump conviction ‘burns’ idea of US as leading democracy

Vladimir Putin has described the recent criminal conviction of Donald Trump as politically motivated and claimed that it had “burned” the idea that the US was a leading democracy.

Trump last week became the first former US head of state ever convicted of a felony crime after a New York jury found him guilty of 34 charges over efforts to conceal a sexual liaison with an adult film actor, Stormy Daniels, in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election.

Related: Putin and Orbán voice support for Trump as allies respect US legal process

In a press conference on Wednesday, Putin said: “It is obvious all over the world that the prosecution of Trump – especially in court on charges that were formed on the basis of events that happened years ago, without direct proof – is simply using the judicial system in an internal political struggle.”

“Their supposed leadership in the sphere of democracy is being burned to the ground,” Putin said.

Putin has previously described the four separate criminal cases against Trump as “political persecution”.

His comments echoed Trump’s own response to the conviction. The former president has repeatedly attacked the criminal justice system and claimed, without evidence, that the verdict was orchestrated by Joe Biden.

Speaking earlier this week, the former White House Russia specialist Fiona Hill warned that Putin was likely to see Trump’s conviction as a chance to undermine the US’s global influence and boost his own standing.

“What mischief does he have to make when you have people within the American system itself denigrating it and pulling it down?” Hill, a former senior adviser to three US presidents – including Trump – said to AP.

Putin, she said, was probably “rubbing his hands with glee” at Trump’s attacks on the US criminal justice system.

In his 25-year rule, Putin has repeatedly used the Russian court system to impose long prison terms to crack down on dissent and expand political control, transforming the country from once tolerating some dissent to ruthlessly suppressing it. The Russian rights group OVD-Info estimates that more than 1,000 people are currently behind bars on politically motivated charges.

Earlier this year, Putin said he would prefer to see Biden re-elected in remarks that were met with skepticism by many Russia watchers who believe his intention may be to use his notoriety to boost Trump. Trump, on his part, has frequently voiced admiration for the Russian leader.

“Basically, we don’t care,” Putin said when asked what this year’s US elections would mean for relations with Moscow. “We will work with any president the American people elect.” He added that he “never had any special ties with Mr Trump”.

Trump and Putin have been entangled on the world stage for nearly a decade amid warnings of Russian interference in US elections. Moscow was accused of meddling in the 2016 election with the aim of boosting Trump and damaging Hillary Clinton’s candidacy.

A 2019 special counsel investigation of Russian election interference and links between Trump and Moscow ended with multiple indictments and extensive evidence of attempted obstruction by Trump, but no proof of collusion.

Last month, Trump boasted that he would quickly free the jailed US journalist Evan Gershkovich from Russia if he wins the election. Putin “will do that for me, but not for anyone else”, he wrote on his Truth Social platform, prompting fresh allegations of collusion. The Kremlin, in turn, denied discussing the case with Trump.

“There aren’t any contacts with Donald Trump,” the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters.