Vladimir Putin on Tuesday praised special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 US elections as “objective,” The Hill reported.

“On the whole he had a very objective investigation and he confirmed that there are no traces whatsoever of collusion between Russia and the incumbent administration, which we said was absolutely fake,” Putin said during a meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Sochi, a Black Sea resort in Russia.

Putin also told Pompeo that he sensed that President Trump genuinely wanted to repair relations between Russia and the United States.

Putin, speaking ahead of talks with Pompeo, also said that Russia had never interfered in US elections and that he and Pompeo had something to talk about when it came to stability on global energy markets.

Pompeo had earlier told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Washington would tolerate no interference by Moscow in the 2020 presidential election, saying such a move would seriously harm already poor relations.