Russia has nothing against resuming contacts with both US President-elect Donald Trump and the heads of other Western countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club on Thursday.
"I do not consider it shameful on my part to call him; I just do not do it, because the leaders of Western states called me almost every week at some point, and then suddenly stopped. Well, if they do not want to, so be it. As you can see, we are alive and well, developing, moving forward. If one of them wants to resume contacts, I have always said and I want to say again — we have nothing against it," Putin said.
Putin underscored that he is ready for contacts with Trump. The president added that Russia will work with any US president that the American people choose.
"I have already said that we will work with any head of state that the American people trust. This will indeed be the case in practice," Putin noted.
On Wednesday, the candidate for presidency from the Republicans Donald Trump was declared the winner of the US presidential election, securing enough Electoral College votes to become the next president, according to US media.