In one of his rare, lengthy news conferences, on Thursday, Vladimir Putin called Donald Trump “brilliant” and “talented without doubt.” Trump, who always accepts compliments gracefully, welcomed the Russian’s plaudits and defended his new best friend from criticism.

“If Putin respects me, and if Putin wants to call me brilliant,” Trump told ABC News. “I’ll accept that, and I’ll accept it on behalf of our country.”

Trump deflected questions from ABC’s George Stephanopoulos about the history of accusations against Putin connecting him to the deaths of reporters killed in Russia.

“Nobody has proven that he’s killed anyone,” Trump said. “He’s always denied it. It’s never been proven that he’s killed anybody.”

“You’re supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, at least in our country. It has not been proven that he’s killed reporters.”

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, since 1992, 36 journalists have been murdered in Russia. Investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya, for example, who reported aggressively on Putin’s regime, and especially its involvement in Chechnya, was murdered in 2006. Her killers were sentenced to life in prison last year.

“If he has killed reporters, I think that’s terrible,” Trump added. “But this isn’t like somebody that’s stood with a gun and he’s, you know, taken the blame or he’s admitted that he’s killed. He’s always denied it.”

Photo via AP Images. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.