Kremlin comments on Trump’s first presidential term

Relations between Russia and the US were quite thorny during Donald Trump’s presidency, but the two nations maintained contact, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Wednesday.

Peskov was commenting on statements made by Trump in an interview with Bloomberg published on Tuesday. During the interview, Trump stated that he “got along very well” with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his tenure and added, “We were never in danger of a war.”

When asked whether he would lift or ease anti-Russian sanctions to help settle the Ukraine conflict, Trump did not give a direct answer but instead said he did “not love sanctions,” arguing that such measures are “forcing everyone away from” the US.

The US did “nothing good for Russia under Trump,” Peskov said, commenting on Trump’s remarks. He specifically mentioned that “new restrictions” were imposed against Moscow at that time and stated that Russia considers all such sanctions to be “illegitimate” steps that only “destroy the basis of international economic relations.”

“Still, there was dialogue. That could be counted as a positive element,” Peskov added.

According to the Carnegie Endowment, the US imposed sanctions against Russia on at least 40 occasions during Trump’s four years in office. Washington also withdrew from a key Cold War-era arms control agreement – the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty – in 2019, leading to its collapse later that year.

Despite existing tensions, the two nations maintained some dialogue. Trump personally met Putin in Helsinki during a summit in 2018, as well as on several other occasions throughout his presidency.

Trump’s successor, Joe Biden, has not talked to Putin since the start of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in 2022. The last phone call between the two presidents took place in late December 2021. Relations between the two nations have since plummeted to their lowest point since the Cold War, according to Moscow.

Last week, Biden stated that he had “no good reason” to talk with his Russian counterpart, including about the Ukraine conflict. In June, Peskov stated that Russia was ready to hold talks with the US but only if such dialogue is “comprehensive” and includes not just Washington’s agenda but also takes Russia’s concerns into account.

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