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Putin gets briefings on Trump’s tweets, Kremlin says – Metro US

Putin gets briefings on Trump’s tweets, Kremlin says

Trump Twitter Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin gets daily reports on what President Trump is tweeting, because they’re considered to be official White House statements, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.

Everything Trump posts on his Twitter account is delivered to Putin in his daily briefings because “Moscow considers all statements made on [Trump’s] Twitter account to be official,” Peskov told reporters on his daily conference call with the press. “Obviously, it’s reported to President Putin, along with other information about the official statements of politicians and heads of state from other countries.”

The Kremlin declined to comment on Trump’s use of the social network, Peskov said, adding “it would be wrong to do so.” He noted that Putin isn’t on Twitter, has said publicly that he’s not interested in tweeting, and doesn’t want any officials to run an account on his behalf, reported Bloomberg Politics.The Kremlin press department does, however, operate an Instagram account for Putin.

There are two official Twitter accounts for the Kremlin; one tweets in English, the other in Russian. Neither follow Trump. Both follow the White House, former President Barack Obama and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Although Putin eschews Twitter, members of the Russian government often use the social network to express the Kremlin’s viewpoints, the Los Angeles Times reports. Alexey Pushkov, a senator in Russia’s parliament, issued a string of critical tweets on Tuesday, criticizing U.S. Russophobia and the World Anti-Doping Agency, which played a part in getting Russia’s national team banned from next month’s Winter Olympics. In one tweet, Pushkov suggested that UN ambassador Nikki Haley was being politically self-serving by saying the women who accused Trump of sexual harassment should be heard.

“The Trump administration is falling apart: Haley calls to listen to those who accuse him of sexual harassment. Preserving her own career after Trump,” Pushkov wrote.