Why Putin May Not Congratulate Trump Over US Election Results

The Kremlin said Wednesday it would judge Donald Trump, who claimed victory in the US presidential election, on his actions and that President Vladimir Putin had no plans to congratulate him.

Relations between Russia and the US have been at an all-time low since the end of the Cold War, with Moscow angered by Western support to Ukraine.

"We will draw conclusions based on concrete steps and concrete words," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.

If elected, Trump has claimed that he would end the fighting in Ukraine within 24 hours.

The US is "capable of helping bring about the end of this conflict" in Ukraine, but is also "the country that is inflaming the conflict", Peskov said.

Peskov said that Trump had made some "quite harsh statements" during his campaign, but that he also spoke of "his aspirations for peace on the international arena, about his aspirations to end politics based on continuing old wars."

He added that: "But after victory, preparing to enter the Oval Office, sometimes statements take on a different tone."

The Kremlin also said it would be "practically impossible" for the next administration to make Russia-US relations worse since they are "at their lowest point in history".

He rejected accusations that Russia had interfered in the US elections.

Peskov said he was "not aware" of Putin's plans to congratulate Trump, since the US is an "unfriendly country that is directly and indirectly involved in a war against our state", referring to the conflict in Ukraine.

Putin was one of the last leaders to congratulate Joe Biden on his 2020 election victory, sending his congratulatory message six weeks after the vote.

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