Russia’s ruling elites, including Vladimir Putin, have conveyed their congratulations to Donald Trump on his victory in the U.S. presidential election — not through an official call, but “through acquaintances,” according to a high-ranking parliamentary source who spoke to the independent outlet Verstka.
Earlier on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists that he had no knowledge of any plans by Putin to call Trump to congratulate him, as the U.S. is an “unfriendly country.”
According to Verstka’s source, the list of Russian figures who passed on their private congratulations to Trump includes Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev, Sberbank CEO Herman Gref, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, and State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin. A source close to the Kremlin confirmed this to the outlet, adding that the messages were relayed through Russia’s Foreign Ministry. The source noted that Russia’s top officials “have a relationship” with the future president that the Kremlin “hopes to maintain” as Moscow “has certain hopes” for Trump.
“These hopes are primarily focused on reducing assistance to Ukraine during the ‘,’” the source explained. “And Trump, of course, is far easier to negotiate with and better for us [the Russian authorities] than [his opponent, U.S. Vice President Kamala] Harris.”
However, Trump’s claim that he can end the war in a single day is viewed by Russia’s top officials as “laughable,” the source said. “What methods would he use to do that? Threaten Putin? Zelensky? There’s only one way to end the war quickly: stop sending aid to Ukraine.”
Another source close to the Kremlin say they’ve confident that “many are waiting, not just in Russia, to see how Trump will act on both Ukraine and the Middle East.” He continued:
One of these issues may become a priority. And if the Middle East takes precedence for the West [i.e. the U.S.], Ukraine will fall into greater dependence on the E.U. If we look at Europe’s reaction to the election results, it’s been fairly restrained.
He added that if his prediction plays out, “the next move is ours: we could propose peace terms or successfully carry out a counteroffensive.”
