Russia has had long periods of amicable relations with the US and supported America at key junctures in its history, President Vladimir Putin has said.

In an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin, a clip of which was released on Sunday, Putin offered an upbeat take on Russia’s longstanding ties with the US despite the recent tensions over the Ukraine conflict.

“By the way, as for the Americans, we have had… over a very long period of time, very friendly and special relations with the United States,” Putin said.

Putin pointed to Russia’s support for the US push to break from British rule during the American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1783. “We really supplied them, even supplied weapons, helped with money, and so on.”