Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated US President Donald Trump on his inauguration, TASS reported, citing Putin's statement at a meeting of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.
„We are open to dialogue with the new US administration on the Ukrainian conflict. The most important thing here is to eliminate the root causes of the crisis, which we have mentioned many times. This is the most important thing“, said the Russian head of state.
„We see requests from the newly elected US president and members of his team for the desire to restore direct contacts with Russia, which were interrupted through no fault of ours by the outgoing administration. We also hear his statements about the need to do everything to prevent a third world war,“ Putin also said.
According to the Russian president, the pre-election period was not easy for Trump, but he showed courage and won a convincing victory.
Putin also expressed the opinion that the dialogue between Russia and the United States should be built on an equal footing and with mutual respect, taking into account the significant role of both countries.