Putin on Paris Agreement: 'We should be grateful to President Trump. In Moscow it's raining and cold'
"By the way, we should be grateful to President Trump. In Moscow it's raining and cold and even, they say, some snow," Putin told an audience at the St. Petersburg International Forum on Friday.
"Now we could blame this all on American imperialism, that it's all their fault," he continued. "But we won't."
Putin also argued that critics of Trump's decision were overreacting and that there's still time to renegotiate the agreement before it goes into effect in 2021.
"Don't worry, be happy," Putin said, adding, "We still have time. If we all work constructively, we can agree on something."
Other world leaders, however, have condemned Trump's decision to pull out of the agreement, which he announced on Thursday afternoon. And in an unusual joint statement, the leaders of France, Germany, and Italy roundly rejected Trump's claim that the deal could be renegotiated.
"We deem the momentum generated in Paris in December 2015 irreversible and we firmly believe that the Paris Agreement cannot be renegotiated, since it is a vital instrument for our planet, societies and economies," the statement said.
Although Putin has argued that climate change is not man-made, Russia is a party to the Paris climate accord. The US now joins only Syria and Nicaragua as non-signatories to the agreement.