With Russia and the United States and its allies on the brink of war, both sides took a step back Wednesday morning following the results of the 2016 presidential election.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sent President-Elect Donald Trump a telegram. According to a Kremlin spokesman, the message contained Putin’s hope that “they can work together toward the end of the crisis in Russian-American relations, as well as address the pressing issues of the international agenda and the search for effective responses to global security challenges.”
Putin commented publicly about the election at a diplomatic ceremony later in the day.
“We heard Trump’s campaign rhetoric while still a candidate for the U.S. presidency, which was focused on restoring the relations between Russia and the United States,” he said. “We understand and are aware that it will be a difficult path in the light of the degradation in which, unfortunately, the relationship between Russia and the U.S. are at the moment.”
As has been the Russian position for months, Putin placed the blame for the heightened tensions between the two nuclear powers with President Barack Obama. Putin’s allies in the Duma echoed those sentiments.
“The current U.S.-Russian relations cannot be called friendly,” Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said. “Hopefully, with the new U.S. president a more constructive dialogue will be possible between our countries. The Russian Parliament will welcome and support any steps in this direction.”
The message of hope and optimism was also expressed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Sergey Zheleznyak, a high-ranking member of Putin’s United Russia Party.
