View From Moscow: Russia Tepidly Welcomes Trump's Return
View From Moscow: Russia Tepidly Welcomes Trump's Return . (MENAFN - Asia Times) 

MOSCOW – Casual observers probably expected Moscow to celebrate Donald Trump's return to the White House amid perceptions he was pro-Russia, or at least Russia-friendly, ...
América - MenaFN
(MENAFN- Asia Times) MOSCOW – Casual observers probably expected Moscow to celebrate Donald Trump's return to the White House amid perceptions he was pro-Russia, or at least Russia-friendly, during his first term.

The Russiagate scandal and associated claims in recent months that Moscow was again meddling in a US election in Trump's support, including through fake news websites and even funding the former conservative supergroup Tenet , reinforced these perceptions. But those who anticipate will give Russia kid gloves will likely be disappointed.

The first official Russian reaction came from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who reminded that“we are talking about an unfriendly country that is directly and indirectly involved in a war against our state” when asked whether President Vladimir Putin would congratulate Trump.

Peskov did leave open the possibility for improved ties if the Trump 2.0 administration had the political will to do so, but it shouldn't be forgotten that Putin publicly backed Joe Biden and later Kamala Harris over Trump before the November 5 election.

That's because Putin, ever the cautious pragmatist , preferred the proverbial devils he knows in Biden and Harris to the unpredictability of a second Trump term.

As for Putin's reaction to Trump's return, he congratulated him on his victory during his traditional Q&A session at the Valdai Club's annual meeting on Thursday (November 7) evening.

“I have said already that we will be working with any head of state who would be trusted by the American people. Indeed, this is going to be like this in practice,” Putin said.

The leader added that he's willing to talk with Trump, improve bilateral relations and bring about an end to the Ukrainian conflict.

On that, former President Dmitry Medvedev, who's now the deputy chairman of the Security Council, earlier tweeted that the goals of Russia's special operation in Ukraine“remain unchanged and will be achieved.” He also implied in a post on Telegram that Trump might curtail American aid to Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov seemed less optimistic than Putin or Medvedev when he assessed on the eve of the US election that“The anti-Russian and Russophobic orientation of US policy is based on internal political consensus which has a bipartisan nature. Ukraine is seen as a key element of the hybrid war unleashed against Russia.”

He apparently doesn't expect any changes in the transition from Biden to Trump but later said that Russia is open to dialogue.
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https://menafn.com/1108865060/View-From-Moscow-Russia-Tepidly-Welcomes-Trumps-Return
2024-11-08
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(MENAFN - Asia Times) 

MOSCOW – Casual observers probably expected Moscow to celebrate Donald Trump's return to the White House amid perceptions he was pro-Russia, or at least Russia-friendly, ...
View From Moscow: Russia Tepidly Welcomes Trump's Return