Peskov has not ruled out the possibility that Putin and Trump could meet prior to the inauguration
The Kremlin has not ruled out the possibility that contact between Russian president Vladimir Putin and his future American counterpart, Donald Trump, may take place before the US presidential inauguration, Interfax reported.
“I do not know whether there will be any contact between our president and Trump before the inauguration. I do not know this for sure, but of course it can’t be ruled out. A congratulatory message has already been sent,” the spokesman for the Russian leader, Dmitry Peskov, said in an interview with the Moskovskii Komsomolets daily newspaper published on Sunday.
He stated that, meanwhile, the current president of the United States is still Barack Obama. “Currently, the United States has an incumbent president, and he will act for the next two months. The events in Syria, for example, develop so quickly that no one can afford a break of two months. Therefore, the work will continue. We need to be patient to wait and see how the new US administration will behave,” Peskov said.
According to him, Moscow proceeds from the fact that Trump has declared his readiness to talk with Russia. “We are not expecting anything. We just proceed from the fact that he spoke about his readiness to converse. Thank God if this readiness is confirmed,” Peskov said, answering a question about what the Kremlin expects from the future US president.
“It is not our business to assess the actions of the participants of the election campaign, especially the elected president. We only proceed from the words of our president, Putin. He said that, certainly, Russia is looking for good relations, and that Russia wants to resolve all disputed issues through dialogue and not through confrontation. And, of course, we hope that some dialogue will appear, because now the relations are in a deplorable state,” Peskov added.
The spokesman for the Russian leader also said that Putin and Trump “to some degree may bear a resemblance to each other because of their approach to the main priorities in the defense of the national interests and their pragmatic approach to building the relations within the country. Actually, they are talking about the same thing: that it is necessary to normalize relations between the two countries, but being guided, first and foremost, by one’s own national interests,” Peskov said.
Answering a question about whether he believes that the United States will have a president who “will become a true friend of Russia,” Peskov said: “We are not dreamers, and it would be foolish to be guided by emotions. No one is able to answer this question now. Of course, some disagreements will continue, as well as some disputes.”