Russian president Vladimir Putin on Friday lauded President-elect Donald Trump Donald John TrumpBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Romney: 'Unthinkable and unacceptable' to not commit to peaceful transition of power Two Louisville police officers shot amid Breonna Taylor grand jury protests MORE for his win, insisting it was no surprise.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Right up to the end, nobody believed he would win — except us," Putin said at his annual marathon press conference.

He credited Trump’s victory to his ability to read the mood of the country.

Trump “precisely felt the mood of the society and worked in the precise paradigm,” Putin said, according to Agence France-Presse.

Putin also acknowledged his own support among Republican voters in the U.S.

“I don’t put it down to me, the fact that a large part of Republican voters support the Russian president,” he said. “It means that a large part of the American people have the same idea of how the world should be, of our common dangers and problems.”

The CIA reportedly concluded that Russia deliberately interfered with the 2016 presidential election in order to help Trump win, an assessment backed by the FBI.

In another report, members of the intelligence community told NBC that Putin himself was “personally” involved in Russia’s hacking of Democratic organizations in a attempt to boost Trump.

Putin has denied Russian interference in the election.