Russian President Vladimir Putin has allegedly congratulated newly re-elected president Donald Trump on his victory in the 2024 election through "mutual friends," according to Russian news outlet Verstka.
The Russian outlet reported that "representatives of the Russian authorities and elite, including President Vladimir Putin" congratulated the 47th U.S. president "through acquaintances," according to "a high-ranking interlocutor in parliament."
This report negates the Kremlin's official position that Putin has not congratulated Trump, and does not plan to, according to Politico.
Newsweek cannot independently verify the validity of these claims, and the official Kremlin position is that Putin has not communicated with Trump regarding congratulatory messages.
The Russian government and the Trump campaign have both been contacted by Newsweek for comment via email outside of business hours.
Other Russian government officials have also allegedly congratulated Trump on his win, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev.
Chairman of the Board of Sberbank, German Gref, and Speakers of the Houses of Parliament Valentina Matviyenko and Vyacheslav Volodin have also reportedly sent their regards.
Medvedev reportedly wrote on social media: "Trump has one useful quality for us. He's a businessman to the bone, he has a deathly hatred of spending money on hangers-on and freeloaders," but added that the "system is stronger than him."
Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) told Politico that Trump's re-election "opens up new opportunities for resetting relations between Russia and the United States."
He added: "Ordinary Americans are tired of the unprecedented lies, incompetence, and malice of the Biden administration."
Dmitriev reportedly had a "personal relationship" with Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner during his first presidency, according to the Daily Beast.
Special counsel Robert Mueller's 2019 report investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election said that Dmitriev, Kushner, and Rick Gerson, a New York hedge-fund manager, met not long before Trump was sworn into office to discuss ideas for a US-Russia reconciliation.
Newsweek reached out to a member of Kushner's team via email.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for the Kremlin, said during a morning briefing today: "I am not aware of the president's plans to congratulate Trump on the election."
He added: "Let's not forget that we are talking about an unfriendly country that is both directly and indirectly involved in the war against our state."
When asked about Putin damaging diplomatic relations by not sending congratulations, Peskov said "it is almost impossible" as current U.S.-Russian relations are "at their historical lowest point," according to Russian news agency Interfax.
Regarding the U.S. and Russia's relationship going forward, Peskov said: "What happens next depends on the American leadership.
"President Putin has said on more than one occasion than he's open to constructive dialogue, based on fairness, equality and a willingness to take into account mutual concerns.
He added: "Right now, the U.S. admin has a diametrically opposed position. We'll see what happens in January."
The Kremlin spokesman also spoke about Trump's previous statement regarding the war in Ukraine, where he said he would end it "within 24 hours."
Putin's office will wait to see Trump's actions once he is in office before beginning negotiations, Peskov said, adding: "Once [in the Oval Office], statements can sometimes take on a different tone. That's why we say we are carefully analyzing everything, monitoring everything, and we will draw conclusions from specific words and concrete actions."
Following Trump's previous election in 2016, the Russian president congratulated him by sending a telegram.
Trump has previously touted his relationship with Putin as good, and last month said that he "got along great with Putin," according to The Hill.
Journalist Bob Woodward alleged that the Russian president and Trump kept in contact after his first presidential term concluded in his most recent book War.
The book alleges that Trump and Putin have made as many as seven phone calls since Trump left office in 2021 and that he secretly sent Putin COVID-19 test machines in 2020.
In response to the allegations in the book, Trump's communications director Steven Cheung previously told Newsweek: "None of these made-up stories by Bob Woodward are true and are the work of a truly demented and deranged man who suffers from a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome."
Trump also recently told the The Wall Street Journal that he previously informed Putin he would strike Moscow if the Russian leader invaded Ukraine.
"I said, 'Vladimir, 'if you go after Ukraine, I am going to hit you so hard, you're not even going to believe it. I'm going to hit you right in the middle of fricking Moscow."
He continued: "I said, 'We're friends. I don't want to do it, but I have no choice.' He goes, 'No way.' I said, 'Way.'"
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