Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Donald Trump on winning the U.S. presidential election and said Moscow is open to talks with the Republican president-elect.
"I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate him on his election as president of the United States of America," Putin said after speaking to an international conference in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Trump said during the campaign that he could quickly end the war in Ukraine if he was elected but gave few details. Putin said those comments deserved attention, adding that if Trump wanted to resume contacts, Russia was ready for discussion.
Putin also said he was impressed with how Trump, who decisively defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the November 5 election, handled himself in the moments after an assassination attempt in July, describing Trump as a brave man.
Trump said he was also prepared for a conversation with Putin.
"I think we'll speak," he said in an interview with NBC News. He said that he had spoke to "probably" 70 world leaders since the morning of November 6 but that Putin was not among them.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier on November 7 that he could not rule out the possibility of talks between Putin and Trump before the his inauguration in January.
When asked by journalists whether such communication was off the table, Peskov responded: "Why? It is not ruled out. [Trump] said that he would call Putin before the inauguration. Those are his words."
He was referring to previous statements made by Trump about reaching out to Putin ahead of taking office.
Peskov also addressed questions regarding any official contact between the Russian authorities and Trump's campaign following the U.S. election.
"No. Why should we contact them?" he replied, further clarifying that the Russian administration had not made any direct outreach.
