MOSCOW: Russia sees US Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris as a more predictable opponent than Republican Donald Trump, though in any case there is no prospect of an improvement in relations with Washington, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

In an interview with Pavel Zarubin, a TV reporter with favoured access to the Kremlin, Peskov also appeared dismissive of Trump’s boast that he could end the Ukraine war within 24 hours if US voters returned him to the White House.

Before Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from November’s election and threw his support behind Harris, Russian President Vladimir Putin had said that Moscow preferred Biden over Trump, describing the former as an experienced “old school” type of politician.

With Biden out of the running, Zarubin asked Peskov, laughing: “Then who is our candidate now?”

Peskov, also laughing, replied: “We have no candidate. But, of course, the Democrats are more predictable. And what Putin said about Biden’s predictability applies to almost all Democrats, including Ms. Harris.”

While stating that the election was an internal US matter, Putin and Peskov have offered a variety of opinions at different times.