President Putin extended hearty congratulations to President Trump on his second term, calling his campaign a demonstration of ‘courage’ and his election a ‘convincing victory.’ However, Trump did not reciprocate the gesture, launching some of the harshest criticism of Putin he has ever made, accusing him of ‘destroying Russia’ through war in Ukraine. The unexpected reversal underscored why celebrations of Trump’s return to the White House have been muted in Russia in recent months: Russian officials are well aware of Trump’s unpredictability. Trump has often shown warmth towards Putin and in 2018, at the Helsinki summit, he accepted Putin’s word over his own intelligence agencies. Yet, the situation remains fluid, with Trump suggesting a possible conversation with Putin ‘very soon.’ Putin’s foreign policy advisor, Yuri Ushakov, indicated that Russia is ‘taking into account’ the comments from the Oval Office but is still awaiting outreach from the US team for potential talks.
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