Zakaria acknowledged the word “brilliant” may have been a matter of imprecise translation. Putin had made the statement in December, drawing praise in return from Trump for his leadership ability.

In the latest discussion, which aired Sunday on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS,” Putin did voice his approval of Trump’s willingness “to restore full-fledged Russian-American relations,” but declined to offer additional support for Trump or anything much in the way of opinions about presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

“We never interfere into the internal political processes of other countries,” Putin said in his typically expressionless manner.

The Russian president did take a slap at American self-righteousness toward other countries when it comes to adherence to democratic processes.

“Do you think that the elections are democratic in the United States?” Putin asked Zakaria, adding: “Twice in American history, a president was elected who did not get the majority of votes.”

Putin, presumably, was referring to the elections of 1876 (Rutherford Hayes) and 2000 (George W. Bush) when the candidate who received the most votes did not win in the Electoral College.

Putin did acknowledge America’s status in the world: “The U.S. is a great power. At the moment, it is probably the only superpower and we accept this fact.”

The Russian leader said he didn’t think the world was sliding toward a new Cold War but did take some digs, direct and indirect, at international sanctions and NATO, which he said needed “an external enemy” to justify its continued existence.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi of Italy and President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan took part in the panel discussion, which also focused on topics ranging from Ukraine to Russian athletic doping scandals.