26 January 2016, 10:01 GMT
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has not been convicted in regard to the former Russian FSB secret service agent Alexander Litvinenko murder case, and hence should be presumed innocent, US presidential hopeful Donald Trump said on Tuesday.
"The fact is, he [Putin] has not been convicted of anything. Many people say it was not him, so who knows who did it," Trump stated in an interview with Fox Business News. "I don't know that he did it."
Earlier this month, a UK inquiry into the death of Litvinenko found the Russian authorities responsible for the murder, despite failing to prove that the polonium-210 used to poison the former agent came from Russia.
Trump argued that nothing in the case has been determined yet, adding that "They say a lot of things about me that are not true."
The Russian Foreign Ministry criticized the UK inquiry as politicized and lacking transparency, and said it would have an adverse effect on Moscow-London relations.
