MOSCOW — The Kremlin’s spokesman on Friday weighed in on the upcoming United States elections, and said Russian leader Vladimir Putin would prefer a president who is “more constructive” toward Russia and understood the “importance of the dialogue.”
Asked during a one-on-one interview whether Putin could work with the Republican frontrunner and former President Donald Trump, Dmitry Peskov said Putin would be ready to work with “anyone who will understand that from now on, you have to be more careful with Russia and you have to take into account its concerns.”
During his time in office, Trump commended Putin’s leadership style and was accused of cozying up to the Russian leader. More recently, he has said that he appreciated praise from Putin about his plan to resolve the war in Ukraine within 24 hours, if re-elected.
Peskov did not comment on whether President Joe Biden would fit that bill, or mention Trump by name. He did question Trump’s claim that he would end the war in one day, saying it’s “too complicated” to be resolved this easily.
Peskov also accused the U.S. and the West of unnecessarily prolonging the war in Ukraine, and of sending Kyiv conflicting messages about the support it will receive.
He blamed Washington for throwing billions of taxpayer dollars “into the wind” by providing military and financial aid to Kyiv — something that, he said, has failed to achieve much on the battlefield.
“You have to understand your responsibility for this,” Peskov said, speaking in English. “You are making this conflict longer.”
Russia, which invaded its smaller neighbor on Feb. 24 last year and proceeded to illegally annex regions in the east of the country, initially suffered surprising losses on the battlefield as Ukrainians rallied to defend their homeland, and the West unified to repel President Putin’s forces.
But more recently the war has sunk into a quagmire, and Kyiv has had to scramble to secure vital support amid growing disagreements among American and European lawmakers over just how much longer Ukraine’s allies can sustain aid deliveries.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s last-minute visit to Washington earlier this week failed to secure a new $61 billion package.
“You are telling them — go and die,” Peskov said of the U.S. “Don’t worry, we will give you enough money and enough armaments, but you should go and die. And you know pretty well that they cannot win.”
In a boost of support for Kyiv on Thursday, the European Union agreed to start accession talks with Ukraine, but they could not agree on a $55 billion package of financial assistance because of opposition from Hungary, whose leader maintains close ties to Russia.
Even if the backing from the West continues, Peskov said Ukraine can never match Russian military and economic potential, making resistance futile and Washington’s signals to its leadership conflicting.
The United States has been Ukraine’s biggest military backer, providing billions of dollars worth of aid since Russia invaded last year. President Biden initially promised to stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes. But in an apparent reframing of that pledge, he told Zelenskyy in Washington this week that the U.S. will continue to supply Ukraine with critical weapons and equipment for “as long as we can.”
Keir Simmons and Natasha Lebedeva reported from Moscow, and Yuliya Talmazan reported from London.