Moscow, Nov 8: It is too early to discuss prospects for improving Russia-US relations, local media reported Friday, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. He said Russian President Vladimir Putin remains willing and open to dialogue with the US President-elect Donald Trump but arranging a time would come later.
The spokesman recalled that during the election campaign, Trump mentioned that he intended to contact Putin personally, Xinhua news agency reported. Meanwhile, Putin on Thursday said that he is ready to hold discussions with Trump and congratulated him on winning the US presidential election. When answering a question at the plenary session of the Russian think tank Valdai’s annual meeting in Sochi about whether he is ready to talk with Trump, the Russian leader said: “ready.”
“I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate him on his election as president of the United States,” Putin said, adding that Russia will work with any head of state who the American people trust.
However, Putin made it clear that – to a large extent – the ball remains in the United States’ court. “Because we have not spoiled relations with them, we have not introduced any restrictions or sanctions against them. We do not contribute to any armed conflict being ignited in territories close to them. We have never sought this, and in practice, I want to emphasise this, we have never allowed ourselves to do this,” said Putin.
“It is unclear why the United States allows itself to do this. I hope that they will eventually come to the realisation that it is better not to do this if we do not want some global conflicts. The President-elect of the United States, Mr. Trump, has spoken in a similar vein.
Let’s see how this will actually work, bearing in mind that the institution of the president in the United States is somehow bound by certain obligations. It is somehow bound by those people who contributed to his rise to power,” he added.
IANS