Donald Trump: Vladimir Putin is more of a leader than Barack Obama

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has said Russia's Vladimir Putin is a better leader than US president Barack Obama.

Speaking at an NBC 'Commander-in-Chief' forum on Wednesday, Mr Trump told the audience that Mr Putin "[has] been a leader far more than our president has been a leader."

Mr Trump has been criticised in the past for heaping praise on the Russia leader, but on Wednesday he appeared unapologetic.

"If he says great things about me, I'm going to say great things about him.

"I think I would have a very, very good relationship with Putin, and I think I would have a very, very good relationship with Russia."

His comments come just days after a photograph emerged of a stern-faced Barack Obama 'greeting' Vladimir Putin moments before the two men held a "candid and blunt" meeting on Syria at the G20 summit in China.

"I've already said he is really, very much of a leader. I mean you can say, oh is not that terrible a thing. The man has very strong control over a country.

"Now it's a very different system and I don't happen to like the system, but certainly, in that system he's been a leader far more than our president has been a leader.

"We have a divided country. We have a country where you have Hillary Clinton with her e-mails that nobody's ever seen, where she deletes 33,000 e-mails and that's after getting a subpoena from Congress.

"If you do that in private business you get thrown in jail", he added.

US President Barack Obama responded to Mr Trump's comments during a visit to Laos on Thursday.

"In terms of Donald Trump, I think I've already offered my opinion", he told reporters.

"I don't think the guy's qualified to be president of the United States. Every time he speaks, that opinion is confirmed."