President Donald Trump isn't getting as much flattering attention as he used to on Russian state media as the Kremlin last week told outlets to cut down on coverage of the U.S. leader, the Economist reports.
Independent television commentator Konstantin von Eggert first reported the news.
"They won't pour buckets of criticism on Trump, they just won't talk about him much," von Eggert told Bloomberg News by phone. "The fate of Russia-American relations is much less predictable than it was just a few weeks ago."
Trump in early February said he had respect for Putin, a comment he was criticized heavily for. But since he took office one month ago, the president hasn't strengthened his relationship with Putin and anti-Russian sentiment in Washington continues to grow. The resignation of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who was considered a sympathetic voice for Russia in Washington, was one reason relations weren't expected to get stronger, reports Bloomberg.
Another was Trump's accusation last Wednesday that Putin seized Crimea during the Obama administration.
According to sources, Russian President Vladimir Putin decided that Trump's transition to power was no longer of interest to the Russian people, another reason for the change. In previous weeks, Trump's moves in the U.S. were garnering more TV time than Putin.
Russia denied the claims.
The media "determine their editorial policies absolutely independently" and it's "complete nonsense" that they were told to reduce coverage of Trump, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters last Friday.
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