Putin Praises Trump, Downplays Arms Race

Russian President Vladimir Putin took to the stage for a marathon end-of-year press conference on Friday, declaring Russian’s military might, denying accusations of hacking in the U.S. elections, and addressing concerns over a new nuclear arms race.

At the annual event, just shy of four hours in length this year, the Russian president downplayed comments made by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump this week pledging “the United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability.”