Vladimir Putin is “far more” of a leader than Barack Obama, US presidential candidate Donald Trump has claimed.
The Republican nominee told a TV interviewer that the Russian president was “very much of a leader” who has “very strong control over his country”.
Mr Trump and his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton were being quizzed separately on national security and military matters at a so-called Commander in Chief forum.
Speaking about Russia and Mr Putin’s position, he said: “It’s a very different system, and I don’t happen to like the system. But certainly in that system he’s been a leader, far more than our president has been a leader.”
His comments follow a pledge that he would get his generals to provide a plan to defeat Islamic State within 30 days.
Mr Putin is helping his ally Bashar al Assad by providing military support for the Syrian regime in their civil war against rebels and militants including IS.
But there have been suggestions he has been conducting secret ground wars both in Syria and Ukraine.
NBC’s Matt Lauer also asked Hillary Clinton why she should not be disqualified from running after using a private server to handle government emails while Secretary of State.
Mrs Clinton, while stressing she had not improperly handled classified information, said: “It was a mistake to have a personal account. I would certainly not do it again. I make no excuses for it.”