Editor's note: The article was updated with the Kremlin's response.
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated U.S. President-elect Donald Trump "through acquaintances" instead of an official phone call, the Russian independent news outlet Verstka reported on Nov. 6.
Previously, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he is not aware of any plans by Putin to congratulate Trump, as the U.S. is an unfriendly country "involved in a war against Russia."
Trump received informal and indirect congratulations also from other top Russian officials, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, Chairman of the Board of Sberbank German Gref, and speakers of the two houses of parliament, Valentina Matviyenko and Vyacheslav Volodin, Verstka reported, citing a Russian parliamentary source.
The Kremlin disputed story, with Peskov calling the claims "unreliable" information in a comment for the media.
Trump claimed victory in a presidential vote on Nov. 5, defeating his Democratic challenger, Vice President Kamala Harris. The election is expected to have a profound impact on Russia's war in Ukraine, as some worry Trump might seek to cut a deal with Putin at the cost of painful concessions by Kyiv.
The U.S. president-elect has also often boasted about close relations with Putin and mocked Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky as the "greatest salesman on earth" for receiving U.S. military assistance.
Putin claimed indifference to the result of the vote and once even said he would prefer Harris as a president in an apparent wry remark, while U.S. intelligence has accused Russia of election interference to boost Trump.
Russian officials offered mixed responses to Trump's election. While some were cautiously optimistic about a possible decrease in support for Ukraine, others believed that Washington's foreign policy would not change fundamentally.
"Hopes are primarily associated with the reduction of aid to Ukraine during (the war)," Verstka's source said, believing Trump is a much better option for Russia than Harris.
Chris York
