MOSCOW, RUSSIA (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow is ready to try to restore good relations with the United States in the wake of the election of Donald Trump.
Putin said Wednesday at a ceremony accepting the credentials of new ambassadors that “we aware that it is a difficult path, in view of the unfortunate degradation of relations between the Russian Federation and the United States.”
Putin says “it is not our fault that Russian-American relations are in such a state.”
Earlier, the Kremlin said Putin sent Trump a telegram of congratulation, expressing “his hope to work together for removing Russian-American relations from their crisis state.”
Putin also says ties between Moscow and Washington must be “based on principles of equality, mutual respect and a real accounting each other’s positions.”
British Prime Minister Theresa May has congratulated U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, saying the two countries will remain “strong and close partners on trade, security and defense.”
In a statement, May said Trump had won after “a hard-fought campaign.”
May, who took office after British voters delivered a shock to the establishment by deciding to leave the European Union, declined to comment on rival candidates Trump and Hillary Clinton while the U.S. race was on.
On Wednesday, she stressed the enduring trans-Atlantic “special relationship, based on the values of freedom, democracy and enterprise.”
“I look forward to working with President-elect Donald Trump, building on these ties to ensure the security and prosperity of our nations in the years ahead,” May said.
Egypt’s president has congratulated Donald Trump on winning the U.S. presidential election, saying Cairo wants to see more “cooperation and coordination” between the two nations to bolster stability and peace in the Middle East.
According to a statement by his office on Wednesday, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi telephoned Trump to offer his congratulations. He also invited the next U.S. president to visit Egypt.
Cairo receives more than $1 billion dollar annually in U.S. military and economic aid under an assistance program that began in the 1970s to reward Egypt for signing a peace treaty with Israel.
El-Sissi met separately with Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in New York in September. El-Sissi later said in an interview with CNN that Trump “without a doubt” would make a strong leader.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has congratulated Donald Trump, calling him a “true friend of the State of Israel.”
Netanyahu said Wednesday he believes the two leaders “will continue to strengthen the unique alliance between our two countries and bring it to ever greater heights.”
Earlier, a key ally in Netanyahu’s center-right coalition, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, said Tump’s victory means that “the era of a Palestinian state is over.” The Palestinians want a state in lands Israel captured in 1967.
Netanyahu has said he is willing to negotiate a border deal, but has retracted offers made by his predecessors while pressing ahead with Jewish settlement expansion on war-won land.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday that he hopes “peace will be achieved during his term.
Without commenting directly on Donald Trump’s election, China’s government says Beijing hopes to work with the new U.S. administration to build sustainable ties and expressed confidence the two countries can handle trade disputes maturely.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters in Beijing on Wednesday that China is “looking forward to making concerted efforts with the new U.S. government to ensure the sustainable, steady and sound development of bilateral relations” to benefit both countries’ people and the world.
Asked about U.S. voters’ anger about economic losses blamed on Chinese exports, Lu said only that the two countries had established ways to deal with trade disputes. He says “as mature, large countries, China and the U.S. are able to handle such issues.”
Iran’s semi-official news agency Tasnim has quoted the country’s foreign minister as saying that the United States needs to implement its part of multilateral international commitments under last year’s historic nuclear deal.
The comments Wednesday by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif came after businessman Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president.
During the campaign, Trump has criticized the deal and suggested he would try to renegotiate it. Zarif was quoted as saying that any U.S. president “should have a correct understanding of realities of the world and our region and face them realistically.”
Zarif says that America has accepted multilateral international commitments and has to “implement the nuclear deal.”
The Iraqi government says relations with the United States have a “solid base” and this is not expected to change after Donald Trump’s election as president.
Government spokesman Saad al-Hadithi, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Iraq is keen to develop its relations with the U.S. and “boost cooperation in the fight against terrorism.”
He noted the leading U.S. role in the current battle to push back Islamic State extremists in Iraq’s north. Last month, a U.S.-led military coalition launched an operation to retake Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul, from Islamic State extremists.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has offered President-elect Donald Trump “close cooperation” on the basis of shared trans-Atlantic values that she says include respect for human dignity regardless of people’s origin, gender or religion.
Merkel told reporters in Berlin on Wednesday that the campaign which ended in Trump’s victory featured “confrontations that were difficult to bear.”
Merkel stressed Germany’s close historical connection with the United States. She said: “Germany and America are connected by values: democracy, freedom, respect for the law and for the dignity of human beings, independently of origin, skin color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or political views.”
She added: “On the basis of these values, I am offering the future president of the United States of America, Donald Trump, close cooperation.”
She said the partnership with the U.S. “is a foundation stone of German foreign policy.”
A top official in South Sudan has welcomed the election victory of Donald Trump.
South Sudan’s Minister of Information and government spokesman Michael Makuei says Trump “will be better after all” for his nation.
Makeui says “I really doubt President Obama had any clear policy to South Sudan other than to destroy it. So we will definitely expect better relations with Trump … and the U.S.A. after the election.”
Cambodia’s long-serving authoritarian prime minister Hun Sen has congratulated Donald Trump on his U.S. presidential election victory.
On his official Facebook page, Hun Sen called Trump “your excellency” and pointed out that he’d announced his support for the Republican candidate several days earlier.
He says “American voters have shown their choice to elect your excellency … My support for your candidacy is not wrong either.”
Hun Sen has kept a tight grip on Cambodian politics for three decades by silencing critics with lawsuits, intimidation and other tactics.
European Union leaders have invited U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to come visit the 28-nation bloc as possible to assess trans-Atlantic ties.
With “sincere congratulations,” EU Council President Donald Tusk and his Commission counterpart Jean-Claude Juncker said that, despite Trump’s campaign talk of protectionism and isolationism, both sides “should consolidate the bridges we have been building across the Atlantic.”
Tusk famously quoted his wife during the U.S. election campaign, saying that “One Donald is more than enough.!”
After Wednesday’s shock election result, Tusk and Juncker said that “it is more important than ever to strengthen trans-Atlantic relations.” That is why they invited Trumpt to come over for a visit “at your earliest convenience.”
Indonesia’s president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo says the world’s most populous Muslim nation will work with Donald Trump’s new U.S. administration.
He says “we will keep good relations, especially in trade and investment as we know the U.S. is one of Indonesia’s major investors. I think there will be no change.”
But, Komaruddin Hidayat, a noted Indonesian Islamic scholar, saysTrump’s election as U.S. president is “shocking” for many people in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation.
Hidayat, who is also rector of Indonesia’s state-run Islamic University, says Trump has signaled backing for ultra-nationalist, isolationist and protectionist policies that could be harmful.
He says “Trump’s isolationist policy will certainly harm Americans because in the era of globalization no country can live alone.”
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has sent his “heartfelt congratulations” to Donald Trump for his election as the next U.S. president.
Abe says that “as a very successful businessman with extraordinary talents, not only you made a great contribution to the growth of the U.S. economy, but now as a strong leader, you have demonstrated your determination to lead the United States.”
Abe, in the statement, reminded Trump of the importance of the Asia-Pacific region, saying its peace and stability is “a driving force of the global economy” that also brings peace and prosperity to the U.S., reminding him of the importance of the region.
He also told reporters at the prime minister’s office that the two countries are “unwavering allies” bonded with universal values and that he hoped to further strengthen the ties.
Abe said that “I hope to tackle various global challenges together with President-elect Trump.”
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