Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised and also cautioned Donald Trump, the US President-elect, that he is “not safe.”
Trump, 78, is scheduled to take office as the 47th U.S. President for a second term on January 20, 2025.
“I don’t believe Donald Trump is safe now after the assassination attempts on him,” the Russian President was quoted as saying in media reports on Friday.
Interacting with reporters in Kazakhstan after a summit, Putin said he was shocked by the way the US election campaign had unfolded.
He praised Trump on Thursday as an experienced and intelligent politician but said he did not believe Trump was safe after attempts on his life.
Trump was wounded in an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania in July. In another incident in September, a man was charged with attempted assassination after allegedly positioning himself with a rifle at one of Trump’s Florida golf courses.
Putin cited “the absolutely uncivilized methods used to battle against Trump, including an assassination attempt – and more than once.”
“By the way, in my opinion, he is not safe now,” said Putin.
“Unfortunately, in the history of the United States, various incidents have happened. I think he (Trump) is intelligent and I hope he’s cautious and understands this.”
Putin, who is himself heavily protected, said he was even more shocked by how Trump’s family and children were criticized by his political opponents during the US election campaign.
He called such behavior “revolting” and said not even “bandits” would resort to such methods in Russia.
About the Biden administration’s recent decision to escalate the war in Ukraine by allowing Kyiv to strike Russia with Western missiles, Putin speculated that it could be a ploy to either help Trump by giving him something to roll back or a way of making his life more difficult with Russia.
Either way, Putin said, he thought Trump would “find the solution” and said Moscow was ready for dialogue.
The Russian President said Trump had overcome a “serious test” to return to the White House and that “absolutely uncivilized means of struggle were used against him,” referring to the two assassination attempts against the US President-elect during the election campaign.
Putin also slammed the “humiliating and unfounded judicial procedures” against Trump during the campaign. Earlier in June, a jury found Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in his hush money trial, making him the first former US President to be convicted of a felony.
He lashed out at outgoing US President Joe Biden for creating “additional difficulties” for the incoming Trump administration, referring to Biden’s move to allow Ukraine to fire longer-range American missiles, called ATACMS, at targets in Russia.
Putin also threatened that Russia would attack Ukraine again with a nuclear-capable ballistic missile, called ‘Oreshnik’, following Russia’s overnight attack on Ukraine on Wednesday, targeting Kyiv’s energy facilities, CNN reported.
“We will use the means at our disposal. We do not exclude the use of Oreshnik against the (Ukrainian) military, against military industrial facilities, or against decision-making centers, including in Kyiv, bearing in mind that the Kyiv authorities today continue to attempt to strike our vital facilities,” he said.
During his poll campaign, Trump had announced that he would end the ongoing Ukraine war “within 24 hours,” if he was re-elected to office but did not specify whether he wanted Ukraine to win the war.