A key Vladimir Putin ally has finally admitted what has been widely suspected for some time: Russia thinks having Donald Trump in the White House will be “useful”.
The Republican nominee has just declared victory in the US presidential election and will return to the White House for his second term in office.
Trump is expected to be much softer on Russia than the incumbent presidency of Joe Biden.
He has already said he wants the war to end – but not admitted which side he wants to win, sparking fears he wants Ukraine to cede land to Moscow.
Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president and now the deputy chair of the Security Council of Russia, seemed to confirm speculation that Russia wanted a Trump victory on Wednesday.
Posting on his official Telegram account, he said: “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 organisations.”
Suggesting Trump would not want to spend money on the Ukrainian authorities, he continued: “The question is how much Trump will be forced to give to the war. He’s stubborn, but the system is stronger.”
Trump has previously described Putin’s invasion of Ukraine as “genius” and “savvy”.
Though his team denied reports that the two men spoke repeatedly over the phone after the Republican left the White House in 2021, Trump himself just said: “If I did, it’s a smart thing.”
He also said he was “offended” when Putin jokingly endorsed Kamala Harris.
Meanwhile, Trump’s running mate JD Vance has declined to call Putin an “enemy” of the US.
But Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy remained optimistic about the impact a Trump presidency could have on Kyiv’s war efforts.
He congratulated Trump, saying he was looking forward to an “era of a strong United States of America under President Trump’s decisive leadership”.
He said: “I recall our great meeting with President Trump back in September when we discussed in detail the Ukraine-US strategic partnership the Victory Plan and ways to put an end to Russia aggression against Ukraine.”