Putin lauds China ties built on trust, while attacking sports ban

The level of mutual trust between Russia and China has reached the highest level in history, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in Moscow on Thursday.

Speaking at his 15th annual news conference, Putin said the real value of Sino-Russian cooperation is not limited to the achievements born out by the statistics, but from the mutual trust seen between the two peoples.

"We have enjoyed success in the fields of economics, aerospace and others, and such cooperation means a lot to the multipolar world," he said.

Nearly 1,900 correspondents from around the world participated in this year's news conference, breaking last year's record number of just over 1,700. The first such event in 2001 drew about 500 journalists.

At the beginning of the four-and-a-half hour session, Putin addressed the sanctions imposed on the country by the World Anti-Doping Agency, or WADA, which will rule Russia out of many major international sporting events for the next four years.

He condemned WADA's decision as a means of neutralizing the country's strong competitors. The president added that the WADA restrictions contradict the Olympic Charter and create obstacles to the development of sports by not allowing athletes from Russia to take part in Olympic and other international events.

"We have young girls in women's figure skating; they are still kids," Putin said. "Do they have any connection to doping? Absolutely not! They are landing quadruple jumps, something that practically no other skaters are able do in women's skating. So, now it's possible to disqualify them, to get them off the ice. Do you think it will help to develop the sport? I don't think so."

When asked about his country's relations with the United States, Putin said Moscow was ready to extend the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the countries. He also called the impeachment of US President Donald Trump a "continuation of domestic political infighting".

On Wednesday, for just the third time in the US history, the House of Representatives voted to impeach a president.

Asked by a representative of a US think tank about the vote, Putin said he did not think the Trump presidency was over, noting that the trial still has to go through the Senate, where the Republicans have a majority.

"I doubt they will want to expel from power their party representative based on what I think are absolutely made-up reasons," Putin said.

"This is just the continuation of an internal political battle. One party that lost the elections, the Democrats, tried to find new ways by accusing Trump of collusion with Russia," he said.

"But then it turns out there was no collusion. This can't be the basis for an impeachment. Now they have come up with some pressure on Ukraine. I don't know what that pressure is. But your Congressmen know better."