Russia鈥檚 reaction to the U.S. race has been among those most closely watched this election season 鈥� both because of the Kremlin鈥檚 and its current standoff with the West over Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin is on record claiming he preferred President Biden over the unpredictability of a Trump return to the White House. The Kremlin leader later transferred that endorsement to Harris, with a wink and a nod.
鈥淥ur 鈥榝avorite,鈥� if you can call it that, was the current president, Mr. Biden,鈥� said Putin when asked about the election at a public forum in September.
鈥淏ut he was removed from the race, and he recommended all his supporters to support Ms. Harris,鈥� . 鈥淲ell, we will do so 鈥� we will support her.鈥�
Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin adviser and director for political studies in Moscow, acknowledges this was classic 鈥渢rolling.鈥�
鈥淩ussia likes that Donald Trump says he wants to improve relations between America and Russia,鈥� Markov tells NPR. 鈥淥f course we like it!鈥�
On record, a second Trump presidency would seemingly bode well for Russia.
Trump has . He has also strongly suggested he would end U.S. military support to Ukraine and force a peace 鈥渨ithin 24 hours.鈥�
Then there鈥檚 Trump鈥檚 running mate, Sen. JD Vance. The vice presidential candidate has endorsed a peace settlement for Ukraine that largely rewards Moscow with lands it has seized militarily.
By contrast, Harris has said she will 鈥渨ill stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies鈥� to fight Russian aggression.
U.S. intelligence agencies argue the Kremlin鈥檚 preference is clear by another means: Officials have for attempting to discredit the Harris-Walz campaign and undermine Americans' trust in the the legitimacy of the vote more generally.
The Kremlin denies the charge and 鈥� seemingly aware of bipartisan backlash to its embrace of Trump in 2016 鈥� says it expects neither candidate to improve U.S.-Russian relations from their current low ebb.
Meanwhile, Markov, the former Kremlin adviser, notes Putin鈥檚 initial critique remained essentially true. 鈥淭rump鈥檚 unpredictable for everyone,鈥� notes Markov. 鈥淓ven for Russia.鈥�
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