File picture of U.S. President Donald Trump with Russian President Vladimir Putin
| Photo Credit: AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday (November 7, 2024) congratulated Donald Trump on his election victory in his first public comment on the U.S. vote, and he praised the president-elect’s courage during the July assassination attempt.

“His behavior at the moment of an attempt on his life left an impression on me. He turned out to be a brave man,” Mr. Putin said at an international forum following a speech in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

“He manifested himself in the very correct way, bravely as a man,” he added.

Mr. Putin also said that what Mr. Trump has said “about the desire to restore relations with Russia, to help end the Ukrainian crisis, in my opinion, deserves attention at least.”

The Kremlin earlier welcomed Mr. Trump’s claim that he could negotiate an end to the conflict in Ukraine “in 24 hours” but emphasised that it will wait for concrete policy steps.

″I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate him on his election as president of the United States of America,” Mr. Putin said in a question-and-answer session at the conference.

As to what he expects from a second Mr. Trump administration, Mr. Putin said, “I don’t know what will happen now. I have no idea.”

“For him, this is still his last presidential term. What he will do is his matter,” added Mr. Putin, who this year began a fifth term that will keep him in power until 2030 and could seek six more years in office after that.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday the Kremlin is not ruling out the possibility of contact between Mr. Putin and Trump before the inauguration, given that Mr. Trump “said he would call Putin before the inauguration.”

Mr. Peskov has emphasized that Moscow views the U.S. as an “unfriendly” country that is directly involved in the Ukrainian conflict. He dismissed arguments that Mr. Putin’s failure to reach out quickly to Mr. Trump could hurt future ties, saying that Moscow’s relations with Washington already are at the “lowest point in history” and arguing that it will be up to the new U.S. leadership to change the situation.

The Kremlin’s cautious stand reflected its view of the U.S. vote as a choice between two unappealing possibilities. While Mr. Trump is known for his admiration of Mr. Putin, the Russian leader has repeatedly noted that during Mr. Trump’s first term, there were “so many restrictions and sanctions against Russia like no other president has ever introduced before him.”