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Kremlin officials and allies welcomed Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory.
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Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president, said it was bad news for Ukraine.
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Some in Moscow are skeptical that Trump will make much of a difference.
Kremlin officials and allies celebrated as Donald Trump neared victory in the 2024 election.
In a post on Telegram on Wednesday, Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president and senior security official, said Trump’s victory was bad news for Ukraine.
“Trump has one useful quality for us: as a businessman at heart, he absolutely does not like to spend money on various hangers-on and stupid hangers-on, on evil charity projects and on greedy international organizations,” Medvedev said.
The US gave Ukraine $64.1 billion in military aid since the 2022 Russian invasion. During his campaign, Trump repeatedly questioned the aid.
Medvedev said that Ukraine was likely one of the projects that Trump would not want to spend money on and that Ukrainian leaders would try to console themselves.
But he also wondered to what extent Trump could change the dynamics of U.S. policy toward Ukraine.
“The question is how much Trump will have to give to the war. He is stubborn, but the system is stronger,” Medvedev said.
Meanwhile, Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, said a Trump victory could help improve Russia’s relationship with the US.
“Their convincing victory shows that ordinary Americans are fed up with the Biden administration’s unprecedented lies, incompetence and malice,” the former Goldman Sachs banker said, Reuters reported.
“This opens up new opportunities to restore relations between Russia and the United States.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated Trump on his “impressive election victory” and said he hoped the Republican would play a key role in ending the war.
Reset relationships
The Kremlin’s official response to Trump’s victory was more muted than that of some Russian officials, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov describing the election as an “internal American matter.”
‘We are not aware of it [Russian President Vladimir] Putin plans to congratulate Trump on his victory,” Peskov said.
Despite the Kremlin’s subdued response, there are indications that Russian leaders have long favored a Trump victory in the election.
US intelligence agencies said during the election that Russia was behind disinformation campaigns apparently aimed at discrediting Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.
In July, Russian government sources told The Moscow Times that Russia’s leaders privately supported Trump in the election.
Trump has also been open about his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He continued to praise Putin for his existence “smart” And “genius” after he began his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. He has also said he could quickly negotiate a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.
Although he has provided few details on how, a peace plan proposed by his running mate, JD Vance, on a podcast in September indicates that it would result in Ukraine ceding territory held by Russia and pledging neutrality.
Before Trump’s declared victory, a spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry sent a coded congratulatory message.
“They win those lives through love for their country, and not through hatred of foreigners,” Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram.
There is reason to be wary
The reaction to Trump’s victory from Russian state television host and Kremlin propagandist Olga Skabejeva was openly celebratory.
“Wow! Congratulations! 47th President of the USA,” she posted on Telegram after Fox News called the election for Trump early Wednesday.
During his time in office, however, Trump’s praise for Putin was not always translated into action.
For example, the Republican sold anti-tank weapons to Ukraine that Democratic Party President Barack Obama had denied in one of a series of measures that did little to ease tensions between Moscow and Washington DC.
Relations between Russia and the US are now so bad that some insiders wonder whether Trump will change the dynamic.
“Of course they want Trump – that’s clear – but the outcome of this election will not be a game changer for Russia,” a former Kremlin official who still operates in government circles told The Washington Post.
“The situation has become truly terrible. US-Russia relations are at an impasse. And everyone is a hostage to it, even Putin.”
Read the original article on Business Insider
