Moscow (CNN) Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his annual news conference Thursday that US President Donald Trump's impeachment was based on "made-up reasons," and expressed doubts that Trump will be removed from power.

The House of Representatives voted almost exactly along party lines Wednesday to impeach Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Trump was the third president in US history to be impeached, and he now faces a trial in the Senate that is expected to start next month.

"Regarding the continuation of our dialogue till the end of Trump's presidency, you make it sound as if it's already coming to an end," Putin said answering a question about whether Russia has a strategy for continuing the dialogue with the US until the end of Trump's presidency.

"I actually really doubt that it is ending, it still has to go through Senate where as far as I know the Republicans hold the majority so it's unlikely they will want to remove the representative of their party for some made-up reasons."

President Putin speaks during his annual press conference in Moscow on Thursday.

Putin's defense of Trump is in line with the unusually-warm relationship the two leaders have formed since 2017. Last year, Trump sided with the Russian President when he declined to endorse the US government's assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, saying instead that he believed Putin's denial that his government meddled. Trump has also dismissed credible allegations that Putin uses violence against his opponents, saying in 2015: "I haven't seen any evidence that he killed anybody, in terms of reporters."

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