The Russian president took questions from international journalists and media managers on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Moscow.

“We had very reliable, good and business-like relations with him. He was a very interesting person, and he was a serious politician, a reliable partner”, Putin said, referring to the late Iranian president who along with his entourage was martyred in a helicopter crash on May 19.

President Raisi “had a little bit ironic attitude towards life, and he had a sense of humor. It was interesting to maintain relations with him right away. It was interesting and useful, because I repeat once again, if we agreed on something with him, we could be confident for a long time that this topic that we are talking about will not be forgotten”, Putin continued to say.  

He also hailed Raisi for his efforts to promote Iran’s international status as the country joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS bloc of emerging economies.

“This is still a sign that we were moving in the right direction, first and foremost in terms of the rise of a multipolar world, and Iran played and continues to play a very important role in this”, Putin added.

The Russian president stressed that his country’s relationship with Iran is developing well, despite the fact that the two countries are under sanctions.

“But, the fact remains, we have a whole plan for joint work. Our trade and economic ties are developing. Of course, in general, we would like to see additional efforts made to develop in the field of high technology.”  

Spy accusations on Trump

Elsewhere in his remarks, Putin said that accusations against former US president Donald Trump that he had spied for Russia are ridiculous and baseless.

Those accusations are part of political disputes between Democrats and Republicans in the US.