India, Oct. 16 -- Ahead of the crucial US midterm elections in November, English billionaire and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson accused Donald Trump of cozying up to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In an explosive LinkedIn post Thursday, the 76-year-old attacked Trump of being an "appeaser to autocrats and dictators" and alleged that they put "personal whims before the best interests of the American people and those of the free world."

"What is it about Putin that President Trump fawns over?" Branson wrote, pointing particularly at Washington's recent change of stance with Russia. "How will America's allies ever be able to trust this administration again when they are now turning against them at a time of war and suffering?"

Th...