The Kremlin expressed very mild optimism on Wednesday for possible improvements in relations between the United States and Russia under the second Trump administration, although the Russians remained skeptical that Trump can deliver on his promise to make peace in Ukraine.
“Let’s not forget that we are talking about an unfriendly country that is directly and indirectly involved in a war against our state,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, referring to U.S. opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Asked if relations between Russia and the United States might deteriorate under Trump, Peskov replied, “It is almost impossible to worsen them further, relations are at their historically lowest point. What happens next will depend on the next U.S. leadership.”
Peskov insisted Russian President Vladimir Putin remains open to “constructive dialogue based on fairness and equality.”
“At the moment, the U.S. administration is diametrically opposed, and what will happen in January – we will see,” he said.
“It would be logical for the next U.S. president, whoever he or she may be, to focus on solving own country’s problems and not looking for adventures tens of thousands of miles away from the U.S. coast,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.
“In general, it makes no difference for Russia what the election outcome will be, given the two-party consensus that emerged in the United States regarding the confrontation toward our country,” she said.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who has threatened to plunge the world into nuclear war for a variety of reasons, and who predicted last weekend that Trump would be assassinated by the Western military-industrial complex if he tries to end the Ukraine conflict, hoped the second Trump administration could be bad news for Ukraine.
“Trump has one useful quality for us: as a businessman to the core, he mortally dislikes spending money on various hangers-on and stupid hanger-on allies, on bad charity projects and on voracious international organizations,” Medvedev said.
“The question is how much Trump will be forced to give to the war. He’s stubborn, but the system is stronger,” he said.
A more optimistic note was sounded by influential businessman Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund.
Dmitriev congratulated the Trump ticket for winning “despite a large-scale disinformation campaign directed against them.
“Their convincing victory shows that ordinary Americans are tired of the unprecedented lies, incompetence, and malice of the Biden administration.This opens up new opportunities for resetting relations between Russia and the United States,” he said.
Dmitriev is a close adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who declined to congratulate Trump on winning the U.S. presidential election.
