Russian President Vladimir Putin has heaped praised on Donald Trump and suggested the incoming administration will “find a solution” to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“As far as I can imagine, the newly elected president is an intelligent and already quite experienced person. I think he will find a solution,” Putin said on Thursday.
Putin also commended the president-elect as a “real man” after an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in July.
“He behaved, in my opinion, in a very correct way, courageously, like a real man,” Putin said from remarks in Kazakhstan on Thursday. “I take this opportunity to congratulate him on his election.”
Putin claimed that “uncivilized means of struggle were used against Trump” more than once and does not believe the president-elect is currently safe as he criticized the “humiliating, unfounded judicial procedures” to which Trump was “subjected” to throughout his 2024 campaign, including civil judgments and criminal verdicts and investigations.
His remarks are in stark contrast to warnings from President Joe Biden’s administration surrounding Putin’s regime, which has launched a major ground assault with an estimated 50,000 soldiers, including North Korean troops, with a goal to retake Russian territory seized by Ukraine this summer.
The Biden administration has also authorized Ukraine’s use of US-supplied long-range missiles inside of Russia. Domestically, federal law enforcement agencies have accused Russian intelligence operations and Kremlin-backed groups of attempting to interfere with American elections with long-running, coordinated disinformation campaigns.
“The escalation, at every turn, at every step, is coming from Russia,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters last week. “They’re the ones who are escalating this. They’re the ones who started this war.
“It is because of their aggression into a sovereign territory: Ukraine. And this war can end today, and you hear us say this over and over again … if Russia would stop, the war would stop, what they’re doing with their aggression.”
Putin has accused the Biden administration itself of “escalating” the war, but he also threatened to launch more medium-range ballistic missiles that were used in Ukraine’s Dnipro region last week. Those Oreshnik missiles, which are capable of firing multiple warheads at once, are also capable of delivering nuclear payloads.
“We will use the means at our disposal,” he warned. “We do not exclude the use of Oreshnik against [Ukraine’s] military, against military-industrial facilities, or against decision-making centers, including in Kyiv, bearing in mind that the Kyiv authorities today continue to attempt to strike our vital facilities.”
Asked whether those “decision-making” facilities are political, Putin replied: “You know, in Soviet times there was a joke about weather forecasts? Here’s the forecast: today, during the day, anything is possible.”
Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi called Putin’s remarks “blackmail” aimed at discouraging Kyiv’s partners while testing Trump.
“We expect those countries that have urged everyone to avert the expansion of the war to react to the statements voiced by Putin today,” Tykhyi said.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that he would bring peace to Ukraine within 24 hours of his election and that the United States would be thrust into a third World War if his Democratic rival Kamala Harris defeated him.
He has not yet revealed any details of his plan to end the war but has suggested Ukraine would be forced to make significant concessions to Russian aggression.
“I do not know what is going to happen now. I have no clue,” Putin said on Thursday.
Putin’s remarks follow Trump’s announcement that General Keith Kellogg is nominated for a US special envoy to the warring countries. “Together, we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, and Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN!” Trump announced on Wednesday.
Asked whether he would have a response if Trump requested a meeting, Putin said he was ready to resume discussions with the president-elect.
