Putin praises Trump’s peace efforts even after failing to win Nobel prize
Asked by reporters whether he thought Trump unfairly handed over the Nobel Peace Prize in favor of Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, Putin said he was not the one to decide but praised Trump’s efforts to push for a ceasefire in Gaza and Ukraine.
“He’s really doing a lot to solve complex crises that have been going on for years, even decades,” Putin said of Trump in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, for a summit of former Soviet nations. He added that if the Gaza ceasefire agreement is implemented, it would mark a “historic” success.
The Russian leader did not comment on Machado’s victory, but said without naming names that in the past the Nobel Committee had given the prize to those who had contributed little to global peace.
“There were cases when the committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to people who did nothing for peace,” Putin said.
“A person comes, good or bad, and within a month, two months, boom. For what? He did nothing. In my opinion, these decisions have done great damage to the prestige of this award.”
Referring to the conflict that has been going on in Ukraine for more than 3.5 years, Putin stated that he and Trump discussed ways to solve the problem at their summit in Alaska in August and said, “In general, for both the United States and the Russian Federation, we have an understanding of where we should go and what we should strive for in order to end this conflict.”
Putin said he told Trump in Alaska that he needed more time to think about the issue and discuss it with Russia’s allies.
“These are complex issues that require further analysis, but we remain committed to the discussion that took place in Anchorage,” he said, “Perhaps we can still accomplish a lot based on the agreements and discussions that took place in Anchorage.”
He expressed hope that Moscow and Washington would agree to extend the 2010 New START arms reduction agreement for another year after it expires in February. The agreement limits each country to a maximum of 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers.
Asked about Putin’s proposal in September to extend the New START treaty, Trump said Sunday that it “sounds like a good idea to me.”
Putin said on Friday that Russia and the United States still have enough time to agree on an extension “if there is good will.”
“If the American side decides it doesn’t need it, it doesn’t matter to us,” he said, given that Russia is building up its strategic nuclear arsenal and preparing to field new weapons.
He also warned that terminating the agreement would mean that there would be no arms control agreement left between the world’s two largest nuclear powers.
“We are ready to negotiate if the Americans and the American side deem this acceptable and useful,” he said. “If not, no. It would be a shame, because there would be nothing left in terms of deterrence in the field of strategic offensive weapons.”
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