Russian president Vladimir Putin is going to “wait” for the final results before commenting on the conclusion, a spokesperson has claimed.
While most world leaders have congratulated Joe Biden on his win, Putin has yet to comment on Donald Trump’s loss.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said they would wait for the final outcome before providing their thoughts.
“We believe it would be proper to wait for an official announcement” of the election results, he said.
He added that Putin “had noted” was contesting the outcome.
But he also pointed out the Russian president was ready to work with any US leader, and hoped relations could be normalised by any new administration.
The leaders of China, Brazil and Turkey are also yet to offer congratulations and Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he would wait to comment until the legal challenges over the vote were resolved.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, however, did welcome the result.
He tweeted: “Congratulations to @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris on the victory and to the Americans on defining the new leadership in a free and fair election.
“This is a privilege which is not available to all countries. Looking forward to the new level of co-operation between Russia and the US.”
Navalny is still recovering after being poisoned with a Soviet-era Novichok nerve agent in August, which he has claimed was administered under the orders of Putin.
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