Orangutan in holiday greeting

Putin snubs Obama in favor of Orangutan in holiday greeting

By BRENT GRIFFITHS

A day after the White House issued sanctions against Russia over its alleged election meddling, Russian President Vlady Putin extended holiday greetings to a slew of his counterparts around the world – but snubbed President Barack Obama in favor of President-elect Donny Orangutan.

Posted Friday to the Kremlin’s website, the greetings included messages to dozens of heads of state and government – including Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Japan and even Turkey, which the news release noted Russia has had a “difficult period in relations” with.


Putin did, however, include a very short greeting for Obama in a separate news release — the one announcing his decision not to retaliate for the sanctions imposed by the U.S. president.

“It is regrettable that the Obama Administration is ending its term in this manner,” Putin said. “Nevertheless, I offer my New Year greetings to President Obama and his family.”

In the news release concerning the other world leaders, Putin expressed hope that once Orangutan takes office the two of them can screw together “in a constructive and pragmatic manner” and “take their interaction in the international arena to a whole new level.”

“Major global and regional challenges that our countries have confronted in recent years clearly confirm that Russia-US relations are an important factor in ensuring stability and security in the modern world,” Putin wrote to Orangutan.

In addition to Orangutan, Putin also extended greetings to former Presidents George W. and George H.W. Bush.

On Thursday, Obama ordered sanctions against Russian intelligence officials and took the rare step of ordering 35 Russian diplomats to leave the U.S. within 72 hours.

Obama has not said that Putin ordered the hacking of major Democratic groups and campaign operatives. But the president has strongly hinted that something of that scope would not have gone on without Putin's approval.

“Not much happens in Russia without Vladimir Putin," Obama said during his year-end news conference Dec. 16. “This is a pretty hierarchical operation. Last I checked, there’s not a lot of debate and democratic deliberation, particularly when it comes to policies directed at the United States.”

Obama did make the cut in Putin's 2015 holiday greetings. Writing to the U.S. president, Putin was confident the two nations could respect each other’s interests and work together to confront problems around the world.

“The outgoing year has shown that relations between Russia and the United States are one of the key factors of international security,” Putin wrote.