WASHINGTON -- The bromance between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump just keeps getting better.
In the latest salvo, Putin praised Trump's bid for the Republican presidential nomination, calling Trump "really brilliant and talented."
"He’s a really brilliant and talented person, without any doubt. It’s not our job to judge his qualities, that’s a job for American voters, but he’s the absolute leader in the presidential race," Putin said after his annual press conference in Moscow, according to the Interfax news service.
"He’s saying he wants to go to another level of relations, closer, deeper relations with Russia," Putin added. "How can we not welcome that? Of course we welcome that."
For his part, Trump has previously said that he would be able to work with Putin.
"I think that I would probably get along with him very well," Trump told CNN in October. "And I don't think you'd be having the kind of problems that you're having right now."