Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn’t have a Twitter account, but that doesn’t mean he’s not following every tweet posted by @realDonaldTrump.
In fact, Trump’s tweets are presented to Putin every day in his daily briefings and considered White House statements, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
“Moscow considers all statements made on his [Trump’s] official Twitter account to be official, so reports are presented to President Putin about them, as well as about official statements that politicians make in other countries," Peskov said Tuesday in his daily phone call with the press.
Peskov declined to comment about criticism of Trump’s tweeting habits, saying “it would be wrong” to do so.
Putin has said he does not have time for social media accounts. The Kremlin press department manages the president’s Instagram account but does not intend to open a Twitter account for Putin, Peskov said.
Even if Putin doesn’t tweet, Russia’s political elite frequently use social media to express Kremlin views.
Alexey Pushkov, a senator in Russia’s parliament, Tuesday fired off a series of tweets taking issue with everything from what he called U.S. Russophobia to the World Anti-Doping Agency. In one tweet he suggested Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, was trying to boost her career post-Trump by saying the women who have accused the U.S. president of sexual misconduct should be heard.
“The Trump administration is falling apart: Haley calls to listen to those who accuse him of sexual harassment. Preserving her own career after Trump,” Pushkov tweeted.