VIDEO-Putin praises 'bright and talented' Donald Trump - CNNPolitics.com

Talking to reporters while leaving the stage following his annual press conference, Putin characterized the Republican front-runner as "the absolute leader of the presidential race."

Then Russia's own leader -- who, moments earlier, had declined on stage to comment on the U.S. presidential election -- went a step further, offering compliments for the businessman-reality TV star-politician.

In October, Trump said that he and Putin "are very different" but opined that "I would, at the same time, get along very well with him."

"He does not like Obama at all; he doesn't respect Obama at all," Trump said then. "... And I don't think you'd be having the kind of problems that you're having right now."

Putin referenced Trump's reported desire "to reach another, deeper level of relations" with Russia.

"What else can we do but to welcome it? Certainly, we welcome it," he said.

CNN's Olga Pavlova reported from Moscow, and CNN's Greg Botelho wrote this story from Atlanta.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/17/politics/russia-putin-trump/index.html