Despite some positive statements from a few officials, the Russian government is cautious about celebrating victory following the election of the Republican billionaire known for his pro-Russian sympathies and close relationship with Vladimir Putin as President of the United States.
In Russia, it wasn’t until midday on Wednesday, November 6, that an official reaction was heard regarding Donald Trump’s election as President of the United States. Responding to questions from the radio station Mayak, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov began by emphasizing that the outgoing president, Joe Biden, would remain in charge for another month and a half, suggesting that many things could happen in that time. “Let’s wait and see,” he repeated several times.
As for the Republican candidate’s declared goal of ending the war in Ukraine “in twenty-four hours” after taking office, Dmitry Peskov acknowledged that it was a “relatively significant” statement, citing the U.S. as the main country “fanning the flames” of this conflict. “However, once in the Oval Office, such statements can sometimes take on a different tone,” he warned.
Would Vladimir Putin congratulate the future American president? journalists also inquired. “Let’s not forget that this is a hostile country, indirectly and directly engaged against our state,” his spokesman replied, reminding everyone that the main event of November 6 for the Russian presidency was not the outcome of the U.S. election but the launching, in the presence of Vladimir Putin, of a new nuclear-powered icebreaker.
Unchanged “anti-Russian” policy
In the meantime, as noted by the independent journalists’ collective Agenstvo on Telegram, several Russian officials did not hold back from expressing their approval of Donald Trump’s election, even though Vladimir Putin had somewhat ambiguously stated that the Kremlin preferred the Democratic candidate. Among those expressing approval were former president Dmitry Medvedev, Duma deputies, and even the spokesperson for Russian diplomacy, Maria Zakharova.
She made several barbs on her Telegram account, including one aimed at Emmanuel Macron, who was among the first leaders to congratulate the new occupant of the White House. “Those who cultivate love for their country, rather than hatred for others, are the ones who succeed,” she notably wrote on the morning of November 6. In contrast, the tone in the official statement from the Foreign Ministry released in the afternoon by the official agency Interfax had changed significantly: “Russia is not under any illusions about the elected American president, well-known to us, and about the new composition of Congress,” it read. “The political elite in power in the United States, regardless of the party to which it belongs, remains committed to its anti-Russian policy and the line of ‘containment’ of Moscow,” the statement concluded.
