Vladimir Putin has congratulated Donald Trump on his election victory and praised the president-elect’s courage during an assassination attempt.
The Russian leader said Mr Trump’s remarks about wanting to restore US-Russia relations to help end the “Ukrainian crisis” also “deserves attention”.
Putin said: “His behaviour at the moment of an attempt on his life left an impression on me. He turned out to be a brave man.”
“He manifested himself in the very correct way, bravely as a man.”
Moscow had previously welcomed Mr Trump’s claim he could negotiate an end to the conflict in Ukraine “in 24 hours”, but said Russia would wait for concrete policy proposals.
Ukraine and many of its European backers fear Mr Trump’s boast means peace on terms in Putin’s favour and involving Kyiv surrendering territory.
Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, was one of the first world leaders to congratulate Mr Trump, who secured an historic second term in a sweeping general election victory in Tuesday’s vote.
Putin said on Thursday: “I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate him on his election as president of the United States of America.”
As to what he expects from a second Trump administration, 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.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday the Kremlin is not ruling out the possibility of contact between Putin and Mr Trump before the inauguration, given that the US president-elect said he would call the Russian president before he is sworn in.
Peskov has said Moscow views the US as an “unfriendly” country which is directly involved in the Ukrainian conflict. He dismissed arguments that Putin’s failure to quickly contact Mr Trump could hurt future ties.
He said Moscow’s relations with Washington are already at the “lowest point in history”, arguing it will be up to the new US leadership to change the situation.
The Kremlin’s cautious stand reflected its view of the US vote as a choice between two unappealing possibilities.
While Mr Trump is known for his admiration of Putin, the Russian leader has repeatedly noted that during Trump’s first term there were so many restrictions and sanctions against Russia such as no other US president has ever introduced before him.
