"It's Official": Kremlin Comments on Putin's Congratulations to Trump on His Election Victory
Peskov: Putin's congratulations to Trump on his election victory are official
November 8, 2024, 12:26
Anastasia Stepanova
Vladimir Putin's congratulations to Donald Trump on his victory in the presidential election can be considered official, said the Russian leader's press secretary Dmitry Peskov. Putin congratulated the Republican the day before during the plenary session of the annual meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club. He confirmed his readiness to talk with the new US president, adding that he "does not consider it shameful for me to call him."
Russian leader Vladimir Putin's congratulations to Donald Trump on his victory in the US presidential election can be considered official. This statement was made by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, RIA Novosti reports.
“Everything the president says is official,” Peskov confirmed, answering a question from journalists.
Earlier, during the plenary session of the annual meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club, the Russian leader congratulated Trump on his election as US President. At the same time, he emphasized that Moscow has always been ready to work with any elected head of state.
"I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate him (Trump. — RT ) on his election as President of the United States of America. I have already said that we will work with any head of state that the American people trust. This will indeed be the case in practice," Putin said.
Commenting on the Republican's position on Ukraine and the possibility of restoring Russian-American relations, Putin noted that Trump's words deserve attention .
“What was said about the desire to restore relations with Russia, to help end the Ukrainian crisis, in my opinion, it seems to me that this deserves attention at the very least,” the president is confident.
However, according to him, the initiator of restoring relations should be Washington, which spoiled them. The President noted that the Russian side did not introduce any restrictions or sanctions against the US and did not contribute to the incitement of armed conflict in territories close to them.
“We have never strived for this and in practice, I want to emphasize this, we have never allowed ourselves to do this,” the Russian leader said.
During the meeting, the head of state also confirmed his readiness to talk to Trump , adding that “he does not consider it shameful to call him on his part.”
The American, in turn, said that he had not spoken to Putin after winning the presidential election, but he did not rule out this possibility either . “I think we will talk,” the future head of the White House suggested in an interview with NBC News.
Earlier, the Kremlin commented on the possibility of contact between the Russian leader and Donald Trump before the inauguration in the United States. "It is not excluded. He said that he would call Putin before the inauguration. That is his word. We have nothing else for now," Peskov told reporters.
At the same time, he clarified that no work is currently being carried out to prepare for a possible meeting between Putin and Trump.
Recall that this week, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump officially declared his victory in the election, speaking to supporters in Florida. During his speech, he emphasized that he "does not intend to start wars, but intends to stop them."
In addition to Vladimir Putin, many other leaders and heads of international organizations congratulated the US president-elect. Some of them expressed hope that the new American leader would try to achieve peace in Ukraine, and also predicted a possible halt in aid supplies.
The day before, American media reported that Donald Trump's team had begun discussing a new plan to end the Ukrainian conflict. One of the conditions would involve Kyiv refusing to join NATO in the next 20 years, in exchange for which the US would continue to provide it with military support.
