On Wednesday, the Kremlin expressed cautious hope for potential improvements in U.S.-Russia relations under a second Trump term, although there was skepticism about Trump’s ability to fulfill his promises regarding peace in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov noted, “Let’s not forget that we are talking about an unfriendly country that is directly and indirectly involved in a war against our state,” referring to U.S. opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
When asked whether relations between the U.S. and Russia could worsen under Trump, Peskov responded, “It is almost impossible to worsen them further, relations are at their historically lowest point. What happens next will depend on the next U.S. leadership.”
Peskov emphasized that Russian President Vladimir Putin is still open to “constructive dialogue based on fairness and equality.”
“At the moment, the U.S. administration is diametrically opposed, and what will happen in January – we will see,” he said.
Maria Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, commented on Wednesday that it would be logical for the next U.S. president, regardless of who they are, to focus on domestic issues rather than seeking involvement in far-off conflicts.
“It would be logical for the next U.S. president, whoever he or she may be, to focus on solving own country’s problems and not looking for adventures tens of thousands of miles away from the U.S. coast,” she said.
She also remarked that, for Russia, the outcome of the U.S. election didn’t matter much, given the bipartisan consensus in the U.S. on confronting Russia.
“In general, it makes no difference for Russia what the election outcome will be, given the two-party consensus that emerged in the United States regarding the confrontation toward our country,” she added.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, known for his threats to escalate tensions to nuclear war and his prediction that Trump would be assassinated by the Western military-industrial complex if he attempted to end the war in Ukraine, expressed a hope that a second Trump administration might be detrimental to Ukraine.
“Trump has one useful quality for us: as a businessman to the core, he mortally dislikes spending money on various hangers-on and stupid hanger-on allies, on bad charity projects and on voracious international organizations,” Medvedev remarked.
“The question is how much Trump will be forced to give to the war. He’s stubborn, but the system is stronger,” he added.
On a more positive note, Kirill Dmitriev, a powerful businessman and CEO of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, expressed support for Trump’s victory.
Dmitriev congratulated Trump’s campaign for winning “despite a large-scale disinformation campaign directed against them.”
“Their convincing victory shows that ordinary Americans are tired of the unprecedented lies, incompetence, and malice of the Biden administration. This opens up new opportunities for resetting relations between Russia and the United States,” he said.
Dmitriev, a close advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, noted that Putin had not congratulated Trump on his election win.
{Matzav.com}