Insiders say Putin conveyed ‘unofficial’ congratulations to Trump and has ‘certain hopes’ for future president
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 ‘special military operation,’” 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 said they’re confident that “many are waiting, and not just in Russia, to see how Trump will act on both Ukraine and the Middle East.” They 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.
They added that in this scenario, “the next move is ours: we could propose peace terms or successfully carry out a counteroffensive.”
A source from Russia’s Federal Assembly told Verstka that discussions of Trump’s victory among Russian elites have been “fairly positive” as “there’s hope for positive changes, including in the special military operation.” But for now, the source said, it remains unclear what specific steps the future U.S. president might take: “He said he came not to start wars, but to end them. Just like our leader. But how exactly is he going to do it?”
Another source close to the Kremlin told the outlet they were skeptical that Trump will be able to resolve the conflict, end support for Ukraine, or negotiate a ceasefire along the front line. “There’s also the escalation option. It’s more likely that this all leads to global disaster,” the source said. “This isn’t the end of the war — it’s a global conflict.”
