For two decades, Russian President Putin has stirred the US election pot, including by signalling support for candidates.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said Moscow would back US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee, in presidential elections in November.

The nature of Putin’s comments suggests he was joking, or trolling the Harris campaign, at a time when the US government under the Joe Biden administration has levelled new allegations that Russia is seeking to interfere in the November vote, to favour former President Donald Trump.

Yet whatever Putin’s motivations for the comments on Harris, they are the latest iteration of the Russian leader’s attempts to inject Moscow into the US electoral process.

This is not the first time Putin has thrown his support behind a US presidential candidate. Putin himself has been in Russia’s top job since 2012. He was also president between 2000 and 2008.

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