Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday praised U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace efforts and expressed optimism about extending a key nuclear arms treaty between the two nations, even as Trump missed out on this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
Putin was responding to questions about whether Trump deserved the honor, which went instead to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. While declining to say if Trump had been unfairly overlooked, Putin commended his attempts to resolve long-standing global conflicts, citing his push for ceasefires in Gaza and Ukraine.
“He’s really doing a lot to resolve such complex crises that have lasted for years and even decades,” Putin said while in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, for a summit of former Soviet states. He added that if the Gaza truce holds, it would be a “historic” milestone.
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Trump quickly shared a video of Putin’s comments on Truth Social, thanking him for acknowledging his efforts to settle international disputes.
Without naming anyone, Putin criticized the Nobel Committee’s record, suggesting it has sometimes awarded the prize to figures who “have done nothing for peace.” He said such decisions had “done enormous damage to the prestige of this prize.”
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was more direct, calling the committee’s failure to honor Trump “sheer stupidity.” He argued that the panel had “done a disservice to the peace process in all spots.” Lukashenko, who recently spoke with Trump in August, credited their discussion with helping secure a U.S.-brokered deal that freed dozens of Belarusian political prisoners and eased sanctions on his country’s national airline.
Addressing the prolonged war in Ukraine, Putin said he and Trump discussed potential solutions during their summit in Alaska in August. “On the whole, we have an understanding, both on the part of the United States and on the part of the Russian Federation, about where we should move and what we should strive for in order to end this conflict,” he said.
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Putin noted that the two sides were still analyzing the details but remained committed to the dialogue that began in Anchorage. He also expressed confidence that Russia and the U.S. could agree to extend the 2010 New START nuclear arms reduction treaty for another year before it expires in February. The treaty limits each country to 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers.
Asked in September about the proposal, Trump said it “sounds like a good idea to me.”
Putin remarked that both countries still had “enough time to agree on its extension if there is a good will,” but cautioned that if the U.S. opted out, Russia would continue strengthening its nuclear arsenal. “If the American side decides that it doesn’t need it, it’s not critical for us at all,” he said, according to AP’s report.
Even so, he warned that allowing the pact to lapse would leave the world’s two largest nuclear powers without any formal arms control framework. “We’re ready to negotiate if the Americans see it as acceptable and useful,” Putin said. “If not, then no. It would be a pity, because there would be nothing left at all in terms of deterrence in the area of strategic offensive weapons.”
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