Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Donald Trump on winning the US election on Thursday, praised him for showing courage when a gunman tried to assassinate him and said Moscow was open to talks with the Republican president-elect.
In his first public comments since Trump’s victory, Putin said Trump had acted like a real man during an assassination attempt on him in July while speaking at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
Putin said Trump’s comments about restoring relations with Ukraine and Russia during the election campaign should be taken into account. During the election campaign, Trump said that if he was elected, he could bring peace to Ukraine within 24 hours.
Pressed by a questioner about what he would do if Trump called to suggest a meeting, Putin said he was ready to resume contact if the Trump administration wanted and was open to discussions with Trump.
Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on Friday that Putin’s readiness to negotiate with Trump meant that Putin was not willing to change his demands and that Russia’s goals in Ukraine remained unchanged.
According to an interview with Trump published by NBC on Thursday, the president-elect said he had not spoken to Putin since his election victory this week but “I think we will.” Reuters