Russian dictator Vladimir Putin came out swinging in defense of President-elect Donald Trump who has found himself mired in a prostitution scandal.

Trump has been criticized for his cozy relationship with Putin and Putin’s comments are only going to add fuel to the already raging fire. Putin said:

People who order fakes of the type now circulating against the U.S. president-elect, who concoct them and use them in a political battle, are worse than prostitutes because they don’t have any moral boundaries at all.

The comments by Putin serve a twofold purpose. The first is to attempt to offer spin to the allegations that the Russian government has blackmail hanging over Trump’s head, which has been the driving force influencing Trump’s decisions regarding Russia. If Putin says he does not believe Trump was involved in the scandal it serves Putin’s own interests in downplaying the very likely blackmail he has been using against Trump like a mace. The second is Putin continues to cement his public friendship with Trump which will beneficial for him during Trump’s presidency.

While Putin said he does not believe the allegations, he also participated in a round of gratuitous bragging regarding Russian citizens. Putin further stated:

He’s (Trump) a grown man, and secondly he’s someone who has been involved with beauty contests for many years and has met the most beautiful women in the world. I find it hard to believe that he rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world.

Putin’s hypocrisy of stating that prostitutes have low morals while simultaneously asserting Russian prostitutes are the “best in the world” is the type of double-talk to expect from a dictator.

Trump’s history of owning, and participating, with beauty pageants is very well known. However, Putin’s faux-disbelief must be measured against Trump’s own past admittance of sexually assaulting women. In 2005 Trump bragged about grabbing various women “by the pus*y” on a secret recording while gleefully sharing he was able to get away with the acts because he’s rich and famous. In that regard it is certainly not difficult to believe or accept that Trump used the services of prostitutes.