From the Liveblog of
Thursday, November 7, 2024
Putin congratulates Trump on election win, says Russia ready for dialogue with US
SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulates Donald Trump on winning the US election, praises him for showing courage when a gunman tried to assassinate him, and says Moscow is ready for dialogue with the Republican president-elect.
In his first public remarks since Trump’s win, Putin says Trump acted like a real man during an assassination attempt on him while he was speaking at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania in July.
“He behaved, in my opinion, in a very correct way, courageously, like a real man,” Putin says at the Valdai discussion club in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi. “I take this opportunity to congratulate him on his election.”
Putin says remarks Trump had made during the election campaign 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,” says Putin.
Trump said during campaigning that he could bring peace in Ukraine within 24 hours if elected, but has given few details on how he would seek to end the biggest land war in Europe since World War II.
The 72-year-old Kremlin chief gives just one note of caution: “I do not know what is going to happen now. I have no clue.”
Russia and Trump have repeatedly dismissed as nonsense some claims in Western media that Trump was a sort of Russian agent of influence. Russian officials say that during his first term, from 2017 to 2021, Trump was tough on Russia.
Moscow has also repeatedly denied US assertions that Russia meddled in the 2024 and other presidential elections and spread disinformation in an attempt to sow chaos.
