US President Donald Trump "is not my bride, and I am not his groom," Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.
At a media briefing in China, Putin refused to discuss the prospect of Trump being impeached, saying it would be “absolutely wrong” for Russia to discuss domestic US politics and offered the comment as an explanation.
"He (Trump) is not my bride, and I am not his groom," Putin said, reports
New York Times. "We are engaged in politics. Every state has its own interests."
The comments came amid a row over US decision to expel Russian workers from a consulate in San Francisco with just two days notice.
Putin said Moscow reserved the right to respond to the US order to close Russian Consulate and two other annexes.
According to the Russian president, he could reduce US diplomatic staff in Russia by 155 more positions, in addition to the 755 already eliminated.
“But we will not do that yet. Let us see how the situation develops,” he said.
Putin was not happy with the “boorish manner” in which Russia was stripped of diplomatic property in the US.
“It is hard to deal with people who confuse Austria and Australia, but there is nothing you can do about this,” he said.
Putin also condemned North Korea's latest nuclear tests but said he doubted that more sanctions would deter the hermit state from carrying out more tests. “They would rather eat grass than give up their nuclear programme,” he said.
Putin is currently in China’s Xiamen to meet the leaders of BRICS - which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.