Putin ‘has noted’ Trump’s legal challenges to US presidential election
Russian President Vladimir Putin will “wait” for an official result for the US presidential election, the Kremlin announced today, as incumbent Donald Trump lays down legal challenges to Joe Biden’s victory.
While most world leaders rushed to shore up relations with Joe Biden over the weekend, Putin has remained silent on the Democrat’s election to the White House.
Speaking to reporters on a conference call this morning, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow said it was better to wait for the official results before commenting.
“We believe it would be proper to wait for an official announcement” of the election results, Peskov said.
He added that Putin “had noted” Trump’s legal challenges to the election outcome.
However, he added that the Russian President had repeatedly said he was ready to work with any US leader and that Russia hoped it could establish dialogue with the new US administration and find a way to normalise relations.
Moscow endured post-Cold War relations with the US when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine, when Biden was serving as vice president under President Barack Obama.
But Putin and Trump managed to restore relations between the two nations through an unlikely friendship, with Russia even accused of helping the Republican win the 2016 presidential election.