Reuters, Moscow :
The Kremlin said on Thursday it hoped President Vladimir Putin and President-elect Donald Trump would get along and that there would be more mutual respect in U.S.-Russia relations than there was under the Obama administration.
Addressing reporters on a conference call, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was responding to questions about how the Kremlin assessed Trump’s news conference on Wednesday.
“Moscow is genuinely hoping that our presidents will get along,” said Peskov.
“At least Trump has spoken of his readiness for dialogue. This doesn’t mean there’s a readiness to agree about everything with each other. That is hardly possible and Moscow isn’t expecting that, but dialogue is grounds for hope and could help us find a way out of many complex situations.”
Peskov said however that the Kremlin did not agree with views on Crimea expressed by Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson on Wednesday, who said Moscow’s 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula was illegal. Peskov made the statement while commenting on the news conference Trump held Wednesday. Trump voiced hope he will get along with his Russian counterpart after he takes office on Jan. 20.
“If Putin likes Donald Trump, guess what, folks, that’s called an asset, not a liability,” Trump said. “I don’t know if I’m going to get along with Vladimir Putin. I hope I do, but there’s a good chance I won’t.”
Peskov welcomed Trump’s readiness to conduct a dialogue with Russia, adding that “it will help us find a way from many difficult situations.”
He also reaffirmed Moscow’s strong denial of any meddling by Russia in the U.S. presidential election.
Peskov previously denied reports that Russia had compromising personal and financial information about Trump. The president-elect has dismissed the information that surfaced publicly this week as “phony stuff” leaked by “sick people.”
Alexander Lebedev, a Russian multimillionaire businessman who served as a KGB officer posted to London in the waning years of the Cold War, also dismissed the newly released Trump file as a poorly executed fake. “It looks like a slipshod work done by a bungler,” Lebedev, who owns Britain’s Evening Standard and Independent newspapers, said of the uncorroborated dossier in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “It’s difficult to imagine bigger amateurish nonsense.”
Lebedev said he hoped that Trump and Putin could find common ground on a variety of issues, including Syria. Trump has suggested that the U.S. and Russia pool their efforts in combating the Islamic State group in Syria.
The Kremlin said on Thursday it hoped President Vladimir Putin and President-elect Donald Trump would get along and that there would be more mutual respect in U.S.-Russia relations than there was under the Obama administration.
Addressing reporters on a conference call, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was responding to questions about how the Kremlin assessed Trump’s news conference on Wednesday.
“Moscow is genuinely hoping that our presidents will get along,” said Peskov.
“At least Trump has spoken of his readiness for dialogue. This doesn’t mean there’s a readiness to agree about everything with each other. That is hardly possible and Moscow isn’t expecting that, but dialogue is grounds for hope and could help us find a way out of many complex situations.”
Peskov said however that the Kremlin did not agree with views on Crimea expressed by Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson on Wednesday, who said Moscow’s 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula was illegal. Peskov made the statement while commenting on the news conference Trump held Wednesday. Trump voiced hope he will get along with his Russian counterpart after he takes office on Jan. 20.
“If Putin likes Donald Trump, guess what, folks, that’s called an asset, not a liability,” Trump said. “I don’t know if I’m going to get along with Vladimir Putin. I hope I do, but there’s a good chance I won’t.”
Peskov welcomed Trump’s readiness to conduct a dialogue with Russia, adding that “it will help us find a way from many difficult situations.”
He also reaffirmed Moscow’s strong denial of any meddling by Russia in the U.S. presidential election.
Peskov previously denied reports that Russia had compromising personal and financial information about Trump. The president-elect has dismissed the information that surfaced publicly this week as “phony stuff” leaked by “sick people.”
Alexander Lebedev, a Russian multimillionaire businessman who served as a KGB officer posted to London in the waning years of the Cold War, also dismissed the newly released Trump file as a poorly executed fake. “It looks like a slipshod work done by a bungler,” Lebedev, who owns Britain’s Evening Standard and Independent newspapers, said of the uncorroborated dossier in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “It’s difficult to imagine bigger amateurish nonsense.”
Lebedev said he hoped that Trump and Putin could find common ground on a variety of issues, including Syria. Trump has suggested that the U.S. and Russia pool their efforts in combating the Islamic State group in Syria.
