Putin congratulates Trump, praises US president-elect's 'courageous' character
Russian President Vladimir Putin had some flattering words to share Thursday about Donald Trump's recent election victory and the character of the next US president.
Speaking at an event in Sochi, Russia, Putin congratulated Trump from afar on his election victory. He also praised Trump's courage in the face of the July assassination attempt.
“His behavior when he tried for his life left an impression on me. He turned into a brave man,” said Putin at an international forum after the speech in Sochi. It was his first public speech on the American vote.
“He showed himself in the right way, bravely as a man,” he added.
Putin also said that Trump's statements “about the desire to restore relations with Russia, to help end the crisis in Ukraine, in my opinion, deserve at least some attention.”
The Kremlin previously accepted Trump's claim that he could negotiate an end to the conflict in Ukraine “within 24 hours,” but insisted it would wait for firmer policy measures.
Russia launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine almost three years ago. Since then, the administration of US President Joe Biden has been a major partner of Kyiv, providing arms and aid to Ukraine and gathering support among Western nations to implement sanctions against Russia.
Trump has been highly critical of US aid to Ukraine and even praised Putin at the start of the attack. His wait to return to the White House leaves Ukraine with questions about how its relationship with Washington might change.
“Will he support continued military aid to Ukraine and … what kind of deal will he try to force or support?” Richard Haass, outgoing president of the Council on Foreign Relations, told ABC News during a recent interview about foreign policy expectations for Trump's second term.
The White House said on Thursday that the US would continue to provide aid to Ukraine ahead of Biden's handover of power to Trump in January.
Meanwhile, Mike Pompeo – who served as US secretary of state and CIA director during Trump's first term – predicts that the president-elect's re-entry into the Oval Office will mean changes in the way America's enemies view Washington.
“Vladimir Putin did not invade Ukraine during four years of President Trump's watch,” Pompeo said during an interview with Fox News this week.
'I don't know what will happen'
Asked, during a question-and-answer session at the Sochi summit on Thursday, what he expected from Trump's second administration, Putin said: “I don't know what will happen now. I don't know.”
“For him, this is his last term as president. He will make his case,” said Putin, 72, who began his fifth term this year that will keep him in power until 2030 and may seek another six years in office. that.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday the Kremlin is not ruling out the possibility of contact between Putin and Trump before the inauguration, as Trump “said he would call Putin before the inauguration.”
There were reports from American journalist Bob Woodward suggesting that the two leaders have spoken by phone several times since Trump left office. Trump declined to say if that was the case.
Some Ukrainians expressed dismay that Donald Trump's victory in the US election could mean the end of the country's support against Russia. Trump has publicly criticized sending Ukraine billions in military aid, and has said he could make a deal to 'end the war in a day.'
Kurt Volker, a former US diplomat, believes that it is possible that Trump will contact Putin after taking office, if the conflict in Ukraine continues until then.
“He will call Putin immediately and tell Putin that he needs to stop the war, that the fighting must end, there must be peace,” Volker told the Kyiv Independent in a recent interview, commenting. that will inevitably lead to a discussion of the circumstances of what happened.
But Putin will have demands and Volker said the Russian leader's interests are to “take over all of Ukraine.”
The war is now in its 33rd month. Russia currently controls Crimea, which it took from Ukraine in 2014, about 80 percent of the Donbas — a coal and steel region that includes Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions — and more than 70 percent of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
The war has taken a toll on Russia's military: NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Moscow has seen more than 600,000 soldiers killed or wounded since the offensive began. Recently, Russia has looked to North Korea to provide thousands of new students to fight against Ukraine.
US 'unfriendly' to Russia: Kremlin
Peskov emphasized that Moscow considers the US an “unfriendly” country that is directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine. He dismissed arguments that Putin's failure to reach out quickly to Trump could damage future relations, saying that relations between Moscow and Washington are already at “the lowest level in history,” and that it will be up to the new US leadership to change the situation. .
The Kremlin's cautious stance reflected its view of the American vote as a choice between two unfavorable possibilities. Although Trump is known to like Putin, the Russian leader has repeatedly noted that during Trump's first term, there were more restrictions and sanctions against Russia than any other president before him.
Peskov was also asked on Thursday about an earlier warning from US Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump's Democratic challenger for the presidency, that Putin would eat Trump for lunch. In this regard, Peksov said: “Putin does not eat people.”
Trump's return to power comes after spending four years out of the Oval Office. The 78-year-old man is the second US president to win consecutive terms. He will be the first convicted felon to hold the White House.
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