Russian president Vladimir Putin was among the first world leaders to congratulate Donald Trump on his victory.
At a ceremony at the Kremlin this morning, he said he was certain a constructive dialogue between Moscow and Washington would serve the interests of both countries.
“During the election campaign, we heard Donald Trump’s speeches, which focused on rebuilding the relationship between Russia and the United States. We understand and are aware that it is not going to be easy given the degraded state of relations between Russia and the US at the moment, unfortunately. But Russia is ready and willing to restore fully fledged bilateral relations with the United States, because it will have a positive effect on global affairs in general, taking into account the special responsibility of Russia and the US to sustain global security and stability,” said Putin.
Trump, who has expressed admiration for the Russian president, has promised to warm relations with Russia that have chilled over Russia’s intervention in Syria, its seizure of Crimea and allegations of Russian cyber attacks during the US election campaign.
