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Putin finally congratulates Joe Biden on election win, says ready for 'collaboration'

WION Web Team
New Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Dec 15, 2020, 02:02 PM IST
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Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated US President-elect Joe Biden for his victory in the US presidential election, the Kremlin announced on Tuesday

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated US President-elect Joe Biden for his victory in the US presidential election, the Kremlin announced on Tuesday. This comes in the aftermath of the state-by-state counting in the Electoral College vote which decides the winner in US presidential elections.

Earlier, the Kremlin had said that it would wait for the officials results to be announced before congratulating anybody, breaking from global tradition. A few days after the election (November 3), it became clear that Biden had won the presidency. 

"For my part, I am ready for interaction and contact with you," Putin was cited as saying by the Kremlin in a statement.

"Putin wished the president-elect every success and expressed confidence that Russia and the United States, which have a special responsibility for global security and stability, could, despite their differences, really help to solve the many problems and challenges facing the world," the Kremlin said.

President-elect Joe Biden criticised Donald Trump on Monday after emerging victorious in the Electoral College. Biden said that the Republican and his allies attempted to constitution and the “will of the people” by not accepting the results.

"It's a position so extreme we've never seen it before. A position that refused to respect the will of the people refused to respect the rule of law, and refused to honour our constitution," Biden said in a speech after emerging victorious in the Electoral College.

"The flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago. And we now know nothing, not even a pandemic or an abuse of power can extinguish that," Biden said.

"It is my sincere hope we never again see anyone subjected to the kind of threats and abuse we saw in this election," Biden added.