Key Points
- Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Donald Trump on his US election win.
- Putin said Trump had acted “courageously” after an assassination attempt earlier this year.
- Trump claimed last year that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would not have happened if he had been president at the time.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Donald Trump on , praised him for showing courage when a gunman tried to assassinate him, and said Moscow was ready for dialogue with the Republican president-elect.
In his first public remarks since Trump’s win, Putin said on Thursday (local time) that Trump had acted like a “real man” during an while speaking at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on 14 July.
“He behaved, in my opinion, in a very correct way, courageously, like a real man,” Putin said at the Valdai discussion club in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi.
“I take this opportunity to congratulate him on his election.”
Putin added that Trump had been “hounded by all sides” in the tumultuous presidential election campaign but said Trump’s remarks about Ukraine and restoring relations with Russia deserved attention.
“What was said about the desire to restore relations with Russia, to bring about the end of the Ukrainian crisis, in my opinion, this deserves attention at least,” said Putin.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022. Since then, the US has provided US$64 billion ($96 billion) in military aid, and US President Joe Biden has called Putin a “murderous dictator” and a “thug”.
Donald Trump shakes hands with Vladimir Putin in 2019. Source: AAP / Susan Walsh/AP
Trump said during campaigning last year that Putin would never have invaded Ukraine if he had been president at the time, and insisted he could bring peace in Ukraine within 24 hours if he were elected.
Trump has given few details on how he would seek to end the biggest land war in Europe since World War Two.
During his speech, Putin gave just one note of caution: “I do not know what is going to happen now. I have no clue.”
When pressed by a questioner what he would do if Trump called to suggest a meeting, Putin said he was ready to resume contact if the Trump administration wanted to and was ready for discussion with Trump.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that Russia’s leadership remembered Trump’s words about trying to resolve the Ukraine crisis even if he exaggerated the speed at which he could do it.
Asked about Kamala Harris’s warning that Putin would eat Trump for lunch, Peskov said with a chuckle: “Putin does not eat people.”
Zelenskyy congratulates Trump on win
Earlier in the week, following Trump’s election win, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he “appreciate[d] President Trump’s commitment to the ‘peace through strength’ approach in global affairs”.
“This is exactly the principle that can practically bring just peace in Ukraine closer,” he said.
