President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia lauded the Trump administration on Thursday for its efforts to mend ties with the Kremlin.
Speaking in Moscow at the annual meeting of Russia’s intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service, Mr. Putin praised the new U.S. administration for “pragmatism, a realistic worldview” and “discarding many stereotypes, so-called ‘rules’ and messianic, ideological clichés of their predecessors.”
And he blamed Joe Biden, the former president, for causing a crisis in the “entire system of international relations.”
“The first contacts with the new American administration give us some hope,” he said in televised comments. “There is a mutual willingness to work on restoring the relations and gradually tackle the colossal amount of the systemic and strategic problems in the global architecture that had piled up.”
Despite his recent praise, the Russian president of 25 years has also regularly made it clear that he views the United States as an adversary and would look for ways to undermine it, including ordering an online campaign and hacking attacks targeting the 2016 elections in the United States.
In a head-spinning shift of relations that followed a phone call between Mr. Putin and President Trump, top U.S. and Russian officials sat down for talks in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, last week for their first negotiations since before the Russian invasion. As the first concrete step to demonstrate good will by both sides, they agreed to restore diplomatic staffing in both countries, which has been at skeletal levels because of several rounds of mutual expulsions and restrictions.
President Putin on Thursday, however, was cautious about the progress in the talks, saying that elements of the Western establishment were “still intent on stoking the instability in the world and trying to derail or smear the dialogue that has been launched.”
His remarks are most likely directed at European leaders who appear dismayed by the Trump’s administration’s sudden change of course, particularly raising questions about U.S. support for Ukraine, which has been fighting off Russian aggression these past three years in large part thanks to American weapons and funding.
Earlier on Thursday, unnamed U.S. and Russian officials convened in Istanbul to discuss ways to strengthen diplomatic ties. The meeting was held at the official residence of the U.S. consul general in Istanbul — a rare choice of location as Russian diplomats have not agreed to meet on American territory since before the invasion of Ukraine.
The first major round of expulsion of Russian diplomats from the United States — and Russia’s response — came in 2016 when the outgoing Obama administration sought to punish Moscow for meddling in the U.S. presidential election, which brought Mr. Trump to power.
The Trump administration continued the diplomatic war and Russia responded in kind, ordering 755 U.S. diplomats in 2017 alone to leave the country in a sweeping expulsion, the size of which had not been seen since the days of the Cold War.
Further diplomatic tit-for-tats, triggered by Russia’s ongoing aggression in Ukraine as well as attacks in the West, led to further reduced staffing.
Later on Thursday, Valentina I. Matvienko, chairwoman of Russia’s upper house of Parliament, met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey to relay a “verbal message” from President Putin on “global issues” and Turkish-Russian ties, her office said.
Turkey, which has a longstanding relationship with Russia, emerged early in the war with Ukraine as an important mediator, helping to broker a grain export deal and hosting a round of peace talks in April 2022.
Mr. Erdogan, who hosted President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine last week, has said his country is ready to host more talks between Moscow and Kyiv if needed.