Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Donald Trump on his victory in the US presidential election on Thursday and said he was ready to talk to him.
Photo: SITA/AP, Dmitri Lovetsky
Traditional Russian wooden dolls, matryoshka dolls, depicting US President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a souvenir shop in St. Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024.
According to the agencies, he did so in Sochi at the conference of the Valdaj discussion club, where he also declared that he is not opposed to renewing contact with other world leaders. According to NBC, Trump said that he has not yet spoken to Putin, but that he anticipates holding a joint conversation. He noted that he had spoken with about 70 world leaders since Wednesday.
Republican Trump, who is returning to the White House after four years, has repeatedly claimed before the election that if he comes back to power, he will quickly end the war in Ukraine. Russia began its invasion of the neighboring country in February 2022.
Regarding a possible conversation with Trump, Putin said that any proposal that could help end the conflict in Ukraine deserves attention. Western officials and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasize that Putin can end the war at any time by stopping the fighting and withdrawing Russian troops from Ukraine.
According to Putin, Russia is striving for a permanent solution to the situation in Ukraine. However, he emphasized that if the neighboring country does not have a neutral status, it can be used against Russia. Regarding the earlier recognition of Ukraine’s borders in the post-Soviet form, he said that this was done on the basis of the understanding that Ukraine would be a neutral state. He further said about the Ukrainian borders that their form should be in accordance with the decision of the people who live there.
In the past, Moscow used the referendum to defend the annexation of Ukrainian regions to Russia. Both the West and Kyiv consider these referendums to be manipulated and fraudulent.
In his speech, Putin mentioned the July assassination attempt, which Trump survived. The Russian president noted that he was impressed by Trump’s behavior after the attack. He called the future American president, who will return to the White House after the four-year rule of Democrat Joe Biden, a brave man.
According to the head of the Kremlin, Russia is ready to restore relations with the USA, but the ball is on the American side of the court.
On Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also spoke about Trump and his claims about the solution to the war in Ukraine. He said that the Russian leadership remembers Trump’s earlier words well, although he called Trump’s statements that he could negotiate peace within 24 hours exaggerated. “If the new administration wants to seek peace and not the continuation of the war, it will be better than the previous one,” Peskov said.
Peskov also responded to the earlier words of failed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, according to which Putin would eat Trump for lunch. “Putin does not eat people,” the Kremlin spokesman added.
Source: spravy.pravda.sk
