Putin knows Trump has a huge schoolgirl crush on him. For years, Trump was telling everyone who would listen that he had a personal relationship with the KGB thug.
"I have a girlfriend, but you can't meet her because she lives in Canada..."
Russia has stated they are pleased Trump wants to cut NATO loose, and that it would be a good thing for Russia if NATO and the EU collapsed.
Russia is also suffering from a crushing recession due to the price of oil being below $60 a barrel, and Putin knows his friend Donald will help change that. This was signaled by Trump appointing as our new SecState the CEO of Exxon, who also wants higher oil prices.
Putin also has imperialist designs, as indicated by his invasions of Georgia and the Ukraine. His fanboi Trump is going to remove the sanctions incurred by those wrongdoings.
And since Trump will help raise the price of oil, Putin will be able to renew his imperialist program.
Q: Do you have a relationship with Vladimir Putin? A conversational relationship, or anything that you feel you have sway or influence over his government?
TRUMP: I do have a relationship, and I can tell you that he's very interested in what we're doing here today.