Fox News host Bill O’Reilly called Russian President Vladimir Putin "a killer" during an interview with President Donald Trump over the weekend, and the Kremlin wants an apology.
Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that O'Reilly's comments during an interview broadcast on Sunday were "unacceptable and offensive," The Associated Press reported.
During his interview with Trump, O'Reilly asked, "Do you respect Putin?"
"I do respect him," Trump replied. "I respect a lot of people, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna get along with them. He's a leader of his country. I say it's better to get along with Russian than not. And if Russia helps us in the fight against ISIS — which is a major fight, and Islamic terrorism all over the world, major fight — that's a good thing. Will I get along with him? I have no idea."
"He's a killer, though," O'Reilly responded. "Putin's a killer."
"There are a lot of killers," Trump said "We've got a lot of killers. What? Do you think our country's so innocent?"
The Kremlin responded on Monday.
“We consider such words from the Fox TV company to be unacceptable and insulting, and honestly speaking, we would prefer to get an apology from such a respected TV company,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a statement, according to Reuters.
Putin has been accused of being linked to the 2006 poisoning death of ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko as well as political responsibility for the killings of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya in 2006 and Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov in 2015, the AP reported.
Trump has said he plans to improve the relationship between the U.S. and Russia as the 45th president of this country, according to the Christian Science Monitor.
Watch the Fox News interview here. Comments about Putin begin at the 2:10 mark.
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