The future policy of US President-elect Donald Trump is less predictable than that of Joe Biden and his officials might be, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday. It is unclear whether Trump will follow through on his election promises, the official added, in an excerpt of an interview published on Telegram.
Peskov was responding to a question from Russia 1 correspondent Pavel Zarubin about whether Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “bet” on candidates from the Democratic Party worked out. The spokesperson noted that the bet on the Democrats was a “bet on predictability.”
“Everything is quite predictable, the line that [Biden and vice president Kamala Harris] will pursue until the moment they leave the White House. Mr. Trump is less predictable in this regard. And it is also less predictable how he will stick to the statements made during the election campaign,” Peskov explained.
During the election campaign, Trump spoke about his desire to bring the Ukraine conflict to a swift end, which distinguishes him from the direction taken by the current US administration, Peskov stated. He also pointed out that, unlike the Democrats, the president-elect talks about peace and not confrontation.
In September, the Russian president said Moscow would be rooting for the Democratic Party’s nominee, Kamala Harris, after Biden called on his supporters to back her as the party’s new candidate.
“I don’t know if I’m insulted or he did me a favor,” Trump commented at the time.
Prior to the election, the Republican had repeatedly promised to end the conflict within 24 hours, a statement viewed in Moscow as a campaign season exaggeration. However, Trump said on Thursday that he and Putin would probably speak in the near future, while the Russian leader noted that he would be open to a call, adding that “it wouldn’t be beneath me to call him myself.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that one of the plans under Trump’s consideration includes Kiev dropping its ambitions to join NATO in the near future and freezing the conflict along the current front line.
Moscow has ruled out a freeze of the conflict, insisting that all of the goals of its military operation – including Ukrainian neutrality, demilitarization, and denazification – must be achieved. Nevertheless, Russia has said it is open to talks aimed at resolving the crisis.
Speaking at the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi on Thursday, Putin said that Trump’s professed desire to end the Ukraine conflict “deserves attention at the very least.”