The Kremlin on Friday welcomed Donald Trump's comments about Russia being a "war machine" that defeated Napoleon and Hitler, but said he was not wearing rose-colored glasses when it is about the Republican candidate for president of the United States, reports "Reuters".
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to a question about comments Trump said he made to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a July 19 phone call.
Trump later told Fox News that he told Zelensky that the war must be ended.
"This is a war machine you are up against. Russians do this, they wage wars. They defeated Hitler. They defeated Napoleon. We have to end this war," Trump said.
Commenting on Trump's statements, Peskov said:
"It will probably be useful for the majority of the American audience to know that there are many glorious pages in the history of Russia, and indeed, probably few people in the United States, we mean ordinary Americans, and perhaps representatives of the .name political elite, know history in such depth."
But Peskov, asked afterward about a Wall Street Journal op-ed co-authored by Mike Pompeo, a former Trump secretary of state, said the Kremlin is taking a sober look at what a Trump presidency could mean for Russia.
p>
Pompeo's comments suggested Trump would impose tough new sanctions on Moscow if elected and increase aid to Ukraine.
"We have never worn and never wear rose-colored glasses. Trump is a representative of the political elite of the USA, which now absolutely all suffer from total anti-Russian sentiments," said Peskov.
"When he was president, under Trump, the Americans started this sanctions race, under Trump there were a huge number of sanctions against our country, and in that respect he is not much different for us than anyone else.
"Perhaps he is showing a little more political wisdom in maintaining the channels of dialogue. But de facto this does not have a particular impact on anything and we should be aware of that," said Peskov.