President Putin was rather comical during his annual Q&A session with the press, responding to a question about early elections taking place by asking “in which country?” The quip was perhaps a reference to claims that he interfered with the US election.

When the head of the Wall Street Journal's Russia bureau asked Putin about early elections possibly taking place next year, Putin quickly asked “in which country?”

The question prompted laughter from members of the press, though Putin played it cool, barely managing a smirk.

He then responded to the actual question, after clarification that Russia was the country, stating that “anything can happen, but it won’t be expedient.”

Putin: "The Democrats didn't just lose the presidential election, but the House and the Senate as well. Did I do that as well?" — max seddon (@maxseddon) December 23, 2016

He went on to answer the journalist's questions on various other topics on defense, stating that Russia is “stronger than any potential aggressor,” due to the country's armed forces, history, geography, and the current state of Russian society.

Read more

“It won't be a secret that indeed a lot of work has been done in terms of the modernization of missile and nuclear capabilities of the armed forces of the Russian Federation...” Putin said, going on to mention new submarines being commissioned which are equipped with new types of missiles on board, as well as the topic of air bases.

Of course, Washington had a response to earlier comments by Putin when it came to Russia's military capabilities, with US State Department spokesperson John Kirby saying during a Thursday press briefing that “I don’t think in all of human history there has ever been a military as capable and as intelligent, as strong, as well-led, as well-resourced, as the United States military is today.”

Putin later stated that no one is disputing the capabilities of the US, but maintained that Russia was stronger than any potential ‘aggressor’, making sure to stress the word.

“Well, sure. They have more missiles and submarines and aircraft carriers. We don’t argue about that. What we say is we are stronger than any aggressor. That’s the truth,” Putin said on Thursday.