At a meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in the southern Russian city of Sochi on Thursday, Putin said he “would like to take this opportunity to congratulate him on his election as president of the United States of America”. Putin noted that Trump had expressed a desire to end the Ukraine crisis and that such a statement “deserves attention at least”. The Russian president then paid tribute to Trump’s behaviour the moment of an attempt on his life in Pennsylvania in the summer of this year, when then-candidate Trump stood up and raised his fist after a bullet grazed his ear, “left an impression on me. He turned out to be a brave man,”, Putin said. “People show who they are in extraordinary circumstances. This is where a person reveals himself. And he showed himself, in my opinion, in a very correct manner, courageously. Like a man.” Hours earlier, the Kremlin had denied reports that Putin had sent a private message of congratulations to Trump. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov firmly denied this and told reporters that the USA was “an unfriendly country that is directly and indirectly involved in a war against our state”. However, Putin said he was open to a call from Trump and that “it would not be shameful for me to call him”.
Source: rt deutsch of 7 November 2024
(Translation Current Concerns)
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km. The very first sentence of the United Nations Charter of 26 June 1945 states: “We, the peoples of the United Nations – determined, to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.” This was not only tied to the time, but expresses the timeless and most fervent wish of mankind: to live together in peace and work together for a more just world. Russian President Putin knows this too. And if we recognise the Western demonisation of this great statesman for what it is, then we can assume that this is also his own most fervent wish. In the past 20-plus years of government, he has been forced several times to use military means as a last resort. This does not change Putin’s desire for peace. When a door opens to end a war, he seizes every opportunity to do so. That is exactly how I judge his public reaction to the election of the new US President Trump. It remains to be seen whether and how the door will be opened by the upcoming US administration. The key question will be whether this door leads to a just peace that takes Russia’s security interests into account on an equal footing – and is not a new US attempt to assert hegemonic interests. In today’s world, this is a Herculean task. Statesmen who will now tackle this task are urgently needed. To express the will for peace clearly and publicly, that is our task as citizens – and the best support for peace. •
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