Russian President Vladimir Putin is the latest world leader to send his congratulations to Donald Trump for winning the 2024 presidential election.
Here’s a look at what he had to say.
What Happened: World leaders are congratulating Trump and appear eager to move forward with international relations with America as a new president is inaugurated in 2025, one who has been in the White House previously.
“I take this opportunity to congratulate him on his election as president of the United States of America,” Putin said Thursday at a meeting in Sochi, as reported by Politico.
Putin said he has not spoken with Trump since the election victory, but seemed committed to answer the phone if Trump made the phone call.
The Russian president said leaders of Western countries used to call him and “then suddenly they stopped,” when sharing the reason he hadn’t called Trump himself.
“If any of them wants to resume contact, I have always said and I want to say again: we have nothing against it.”
Putin also said he’s “ready” to hold talks with Trump before the January inauguration.
Speaking about an assassination attempt on Trump, Putin said he was impressed with how the president-elect handled himself at the time.
“He turned out to be a courageous man. He showed himself, in my opinion, in a very correct way: courageous, manly.”
Putin’s comments Thursday were his first public thoughts on Trump winning the election. On Wednesday, the Kremlin said Putin was not planning to congratulate Trump.
“I am not aware of the president’s plans to congratulate Trump on the election,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday. “Let’s not forget that we are talking about an unfriendly country that is both directly and indirectly involved in the war against our state.”
The delay in Putin’s congratulations comes after the Russian president was previously one of the first world leaders to send well wishes after Trump won the 2016 presidential election.
Did You Know?
Why It’s Important: Putin’s congratulations comes as Russia and the United States have been enemies since the invasion of Ukraine and sanctions were placed on the country by the current Joe Biden administration.
Trump’s past relationship with Putin and reports that he remained in contact with the Russian leader after leaving the White House have drawn scrutiny and will be a key item watched around the world ahead of and after his inauguration.
The president-elect has promised to end the Russia-Ukraine war in his first day in office and said he will cut back U.S. funding for Ukraine.
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