Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian National Welfare Fund / Photo: kremlin.ru
After Donald Trump announced his victory in the US presidential election, the head of Russia’s National Welfare Fund, Kirill Dmitriev, said that new opportunities have opened up for a “reset” of relations between Moscow and Washington, Reuters reports.
“Trump’s landslide victory shows that ordinary Americans are tired of the unprecedented lies, incompetence and hostility of the Biden administration,” Dmitriev said. According to him, the new stage in relations could create preconditions for reducing tensions between the two largest nuclear powers, which reached Cold War levels after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Dmitriev, a former investment banker and one of the leading advisers to Russian President Vladimir Putin, added that Trump’s team won despite a “large-scale disinformation campaign against them”.
After projecting Trump’s victory on Fox News, the 78-year-old Republican announced his triumphant return to the political arena. It was the most high-profile comeback since he left the White House just four years ago. According to experts, it is the return of Trump, known for his more favourable rhetoric towards Russia, that could change the situation around the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine and the prospects for peace talks
Trump has repeatedly promised to end the war in Ukraine, although he has not yet disclosed clear details of his plan. Vladimir Putin, for his part, has expressed a willingness to discuss peace, but insists on recognising Russia’s territorial gains, which is unacceptable to the Ukrainian leadership.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev suggested that Trump’s victory could be “bad news for Ukraine”. He suggested that Trump, as a businessman, would probably be reluctant to support “insatiable international organisations” and “support countries that wage wars without clear results”.
“Trump has one important quality for us: as a businessman, he does not like to spend money on allies or dubious projects,” Medvedev said. He suggested that the Ukrainian government could face a reduction in US funding if Trump finally wins.
However, Medvedev also noted that the American political system is powerful and influential, and even Trump will have to take into account its demands for support for Ukraine.
There had been attempts at a reset during the previous Trump administration, but they were only complicated by the attempts of the Barack Obama administration, which also sought better relations. Russia is now cautiously waiting to see how the new US leadership will affect global stability and the ongoing Ukrainian crisis.
