ASIATODAY.ID, MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping has congratulated Donald Trump on his electoral victory and confirmed that they are ready to talk with the US president-elect.
Putin hailed Trump’s “courageous” response to the attempt to assassinate him in July.
Speaking at a meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in the southern Russian city of Sochi on Thursday, Putin said that he wished to “offer my congratulations on [Trump’s] election as president of the United States.”
Putin noted that Trump has expressed a desire to end the Ukraine conflict, and that such statements “deserve attention, at the very least.”
The Russian president then paid tribute to Trump’s actions during an attempt on his life in Pennsylvania this summer, when then-candidate Trump rose to his feet and raised his fist after a bullet grazed his ear.
“I was impressed. He’s a courageous person,” Putin said.
“A person shows their true color in these emergencies, and I think he acquitted himself admirably and in a valiant fashion as a man.”
Hours earlier, the Kremlin denied reports that Putin had sent a private congratulatory message to Trump, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov telling reporters that the US is “an unfriendly country that is directly and indirectly involved in the war against us.”
However, Putin said that he is open to receiving a phone call from Trump, adding that “it wouldn’t be beneath me to call him myself.”
Trump has repeatedly promised to bring the Ukraine conflict to a swift end, although he has offered little explanation as to how he would achieve this.
Vice President-elect J.D. Vance and unnamed aides quoted in American media have suggested that Kiev could abandon its territorial claims and hopes of NATO membership in exchange for peace, with the conflict frozen along the current line of contact.
Moscow maintains that any settlement must begin with Ukraine ceasing military operations and acknowledging the “territorial reality” that it will never regain control of the regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye, as well as Crimea. In addition, the Kremlin insists that the goals of its military operation – which include Ukrainian neutrality, demilitarization, and denazification – will be achieved.
Should Trump push to freeze the conflict and deny NATO membership to Ukraine, and should Putin accept this plan, “the likelihood that [Ukrainian leader Vladimir] Zelensky will refuse is close to zero,” a source close to Zelensky told Ukrainian media earlier on Thursday.
Ukraine “is not in a position to refuse its main partner, without whose support it will be almost impossible to continue the war,” the source said.
Xi congratulated Trump
On Thursday, Xi congratulated Trump on his election win and stated that history has shown that China and the US benefit from cooperation and lose from confrontation, according to Xinhua.
While several media reported that Xi and Trump had held a phone call, Chinese officials later clarified that the congratulations were delivered in a message.
A stable, healthy, and sustainable relationship between the two states is in line with their interests, as well in the expectations of the international community, Xinhua cited the Chinese leader as saying.
Xi reportedly expressed hope that the US and China would uphold mutual respect and mutually beneficial cooperation, as well as seeking peaceful coexistence, strengthening dialogue, and properly managing their differences.
While Trump promised to slap tariffs on Chinese imports during his presidential campaign, the administration of outgoing President Joe Biden has already taken protectionist measures against goods from China.
In September, Washington announced tariff hikes that increased duties on imported Chinese electric vehicles to 100% and to 50% for semiconductors, among a number of other goods. (RT/AT Network)
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