VLADIMIR Putin has congratulated “real man” Donald Trump after the Republican’s seismic election win.
The Russian dictator says he is now ready to speak with America’s President-elect over the future of both nations amid grave concerns over what a Trump term may mean for Ukraine.
Donald Trump with Vladimir Putin back in Trump’s first term in officeReuters
Putin, 72, said: “I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate him on his election as president of the United States of America.”
They are his first comments on the US election since Trump was announced as the victor as she swept aside Kamala Harris at the polls.
Putin has been speaking at the Valdai discussion club in Sochi today as he also praised Trump for surviving an assassination attempt back in July.
He commended the future American leader for his bravery in light of the near-death experience.
“He behaved, in my opinion, in a very correct way, courageously, like a real man,” Putin added.
The Russian dictator later made an unusual remark saying he felt as if Trump was “bullied” during his first spell in the White House.
Putin’s acknowledgement of Trump’s landslide win came just after top Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov spoke on the Republican’s desire to end the war in Ukraine within days.
During his turbulent campaign Trump confidently announced he plans to end the conflict in Europe within 24 hours of being in office.
Peskov today called Trump’s comments an “overexaggeration”.
Despite the remark he did say Trump’s administration will be better placed to try and solve the conflict than Joe Biden’s.
Peskov said: “Of course, there was a little bit of overexaggeration that he would be able to do it overnight.
“Certainly, there’s nothing that can heal this problem overnight.
“But at least if the new administration is going to look for peace, not for the continuation of the war, it will be better.”
It comes as Trump’s reported plan to end the war has emerged after Ukrainian president Zelensky held a call congratulating the President-elect.
Trump wants to freeze the conflict in place to establish a demilitarised zone down the locked front line, the Wall Street Journal now reports.
But an anonymous member of the Trump team said the agreement will not involve any US troops.
They said: “We can do training and other support but the barrel of the gun is going to be European.
“We are not sending American men and women to uphold peace in Ukraine. And we are not paying for it. Get the Poles, Germans, British and French to do it.”
It remains unclear if the Ukrainians approve of the plan
Trump’s win means ‘high risks but higher possibilities’ for Ukraine war
The MP said Trump’s unpredictability could work in Ukraine’s favour because the president-elect “doesn’t want his own Afghanistan” like Biden’s withdrawal near the start of his term.
When asked if and how Trump can end the war in Ukraine in just 24 hours, as he has previously claimed, the MP said:
“Yes he can, I think, but the question is what is the price and how he sees it. I don’t know.
“From a Ukrainian perspective, I think that Donald Trump is definitely higher risks, but also higher possibilities for Ukraine.
“Kamala Harris was more predictable, Donald Trump is less predictable. What he will do, and how it will end, we don’t know for the moment.
“But, Donald Trump already in his victory speech said about oil, which is very important.
“If Donald Trump drops the oil price in the world, that can have a super effect more than anything else on the war in Ukraine and on the Russian regime in general. So it’s just one example. I mean, the situation is not black and white.
“I think that Donald Trump, who is a super winner, especially now after such a victory, he doesn’t want to be a loser.
“He doesn’t want to receive his own Afghanistan like Biden received at the beginning of his term.”
