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 Trump - who holds the lead in opinion polls in his bid for the
Republican nomination and was dubbed the "absolute leader" in the
race by Putin - said that by working together, the United States and
Russia could work toward defeating terrorism and "restoring world
peace."
The billionaire businessman's remarks were in stark contrast to his
Republican rivals' rhetoric. Republicans have frequently taken to
bashing Putin and have used his rocky relationship with Democratic
President Barack Obama as evidence that the administration lacks
strength in international affairs.
Obama has been critical of Putin, and called for sanctions after
Russia annexed Crimea. In recent months, the two countries have
split on how to fight Islamic State in Syria. Putin has backed
Syrian President Bashar Assad, while Obama has called for Assad to
step down.
 Trump, who called Putin "highly respected," has frequently argued
that his business background and ability to negotiate deals would
allow him to improve relations with Russia, as well as other
nations.
Putin, speaking on Thursday at his year-end news conference, told
reporters he welcomed Trump's desire for better relations with
Russia.
“He is a very flamboyant man, very talented, no doubt about that.
But it’s not our business to judge his merits, it’s up to the voters
of the United States," Putin told reporters.
"He is an absolute leader of the presidential race, as we see it
today. He says that he wants to move to another level relations, a
deeper level of relations with Russia," Putin said. "How can we not
welcome that? Of course, we welcome it.”
Trump responded that he was honored.
"It is always a great honor to be so nicely complimented by a man so
highly respected within his own country and beyond," the real estate
mogul and former TV reality star said in a statement.
"I have always felt that Russia and the United States should be able
to work well with each other towards defeating terrorism and
restoring world peace, not to mention trade and all of the other
benefits derived from mutual respect."
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Trump's response was a far cry from the stance of another Republican
candidate, former business executive Carly Fiorina. During Tuesday
night's presidential debate, she said she would not even speak to
Putin if elected in November 2016 until executing a series of
military changes.
One of Trump's fiercest rivals, Jeb Bush, said Putin's support for
him was evidence that Trump is like Democratic front-runner Hillary
Clinton, a former secretary of state who was part of Obama's early
attempts to improve relations with Russia. On Twitter on Thursday,
the former Florida governor dubbed Trump "Hillary 2.0."
Asked about Putin's comments, White House spokesman Josh Earnest
said they sounded pretty close to an endorsement of Trump. But he
would not weigh in on whether a Trump presidency would change
U.S.-Russian relations.
"I haven't spent a lot of time contemplating the consequences of a
Trump presidency," Earnest said.
"I think President Obama has effectively managed our relationship
with Russia in a way that has advanced the interests of the United
States, while also standing up for the basic international norms
that Russia violated based on their activities along and across the
Ukrainian border," he said, referring to Russia's support for
Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
(Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova and Lidia Kelly in Mosocow and Ginger
Gibson and Steve Holland in Washington, D.C.; Writing by Maria
Kiselyova and Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Christian Lowe and Tom
Brown)
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