Putin has ‘no plans’ to congratulate Donald Trump and US remains an ‘unfriendly state’, Kremlin says

According to the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin has no immediate plans to congratulate Donald Trump on his election victory, because the country still considers the United States to be ‘unfriendly’ towards Russia.

The dictator’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said relations between the two countries were at an all-time low and it was practically impossible for them to get any worse.

Moscow is closely monitoring events and analyzing statements by US politicians about Russia, he said, urging people not to forget that the US is “directly and indirectly involved in a war against our state.”

Peskov said the US is capable of changing the trajectory of its foreign policy, but “we will see in January,” when Trump comes to power, if that happens.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was quick to congratulate Trump. saying on X that his ‘peace through strength’ approach could help bring ‘just peace’ closer if the war against it Russia is dragging its feet.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was quick to congratulate Trump

Trump declared victory in the presidential race this morning as he addressed the crowd in Palm Beach

The statement is widely seen as a smart political move by Zelensky as he seeks to strengthen US support and assistance to Ukraine.

“We rely on continued strong bipartisan support for Ukraine in the United States,” he wrote in sharp lines.

He remembered the ‘great meeting’ he had with Trump in September, despite the very public tensions between the two politicians at the time.

Standing next to Zelensky, Trump had touted his working relationship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Trump boasted during his campaign that he could “end the war” if elected, insinuating that he could attract American financing and force Ukraine to negotiate with Russia.

He called Zelensky “the greatest salesman in history” in June, and his running mate JD Vance has been a fierce critic of giving more aid to Ukraine.

While Democratic candidate Kamala Harris has taken a tough stance on Russia during her term as vice president, Trump is known to admire Putin.

The influential head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund said as the results emerged today that Trump’s victory opened new opportunities to reset relations between Moscow and Washington.

Kirill Dmitriev, who has had contacts with the Trump team in the past, claimed that Trump’s victory “shows that ordinary Americans are fed up with the unprecedented lies, incompetence and malice of the Biden administration.”

It will come as no surprise that Putin will not comment on the outcome; the Russian leader rarely comments on US elections and has previously pledged to “work with any US leader.”

But he denounced the US legal and political system in July, following Trump’s felony conviction, saying it was being used by the former president’s enemies to damage his chances of re-election.

“They (the US) are burning themselves from within, their state, their political system,” he said.

It is widely suggested that Trump could be a more favorable choice for Putin, as he is more likely to reduce the flow of Western munitions into Kiev.

Timothy Colton of the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies said the Kremlin leadership “broadly believes that nothing good will come of the election from Russia’s point of view.”

But he added that overall, Trump is “probably their preference; he’s more of a known quantity.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin (C) speaks during a ceremonial presentation of credentials by ambassadors in Moscow, Russia, November 5, 2024

Putin caught listeners off guard in September when he gave a teasing answer to the question of who he would choose as president, including a joke against Joe Biden.

“Our ‘favorite’, if you can call it that, was the current president, Mr. Biden,” he told the audience at an economic forum at the port of Vladivostok in the Far East.

“But he was removed from the race and he urged all his supporters to support Ms. Harris.

“Well, we will – we will support her,” he said sardonically, citing her “expressive and infectious laugh” that shows “she is doing well.”