Putin congratulated Trump for being open to repairing relations with the United States

Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Donald Trump two days after his victory in the U.S. presidential election, saying Russia is ready for dialogue with the United States.

According to the New York Times and Reuters, Putin said at the Valdai International Debate Club meeting in Sochi on Thursday (November 7) that Trump narrowly escaped assassination in Butler County, Pennsylvania, in the United States this summer, saying that Trump has shown the true colors of a "real man."

Putin further said that Trump expressed his desire for better relations with Russia and an end to the war in Ukraine, "which deserves attention."

He also said he expects Trump to act more freely in his second term, suggesting he hopes Trump will follow through on his friendly rhetoric toward Russia.

It was Putin's first comment on the U.S. presidential election since Trump's victory.

"I very much look forward to the eventual restoration of our relations with the United States," Putin said. "We are open to that."

On the eve of the US presidential election, Russian officials said they did not care about the outcome of the US election, saying that during Mr Trump's first term, the US had toughened its policy towards Russia, imposing sanctions and sending weapons to Ukraine.

But before Putin's speech Thursday, some close to the Kremlin were already trying to pave the way for a rapprochement between Moscow and Washington, even though many Russians believe the United States waged a proxy war against Russia in its war with Ukraine.

"Trump and his team are known to be very pragmatic," Dmitriev, the head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund and a close Putin ally, said in a telephone interview Wednesday.

He said Trump's return to the White House would be an opportunity, saying Trump is "better at looking at problems in a problem-solving way" than the Biden administration.