Putin Congratulates Biden on Winning U.S. Election

• The Russian president congratulated him expressing President Putin's willingness to “interact and communicate” with Mr. Biden.
• In a Monday night speech, Mr. Biden launched his fiercest attack to date on outgoing President Donald Trump.
• President Trump now has only an opportunity to persuade Congress not to accept the outcome of the Electoral College vote during a special session on January 6.

The Kremlin announced Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on his election victory, in a move that followed Mr. Biden receiving a majority of votes from the Electoral College. The ritual Monday formally determines who will be the next President of the United States.

After Mr. Biden won the Electoral College votes, the Russian president congratulated him expressing President Putin’s willingness to “interact and communicate” with Mr. Biden.

The Kremlin had previously announced that it was awaiting the official results of the elections to take this step, while other countries quickly congratulated Mr. Biden, including China.

“For my part, I am ready for interaction and contact with you,” the Kremlin cited President Putin as saying in a statement. The Kremlin’s statement added:

“Putin wished the president-elect every success and expressed confidence that Russia and the United States, which have a special responsibility for global security and stability, could, despite their differences, really help to solve the many problems and challenges facing the world.”

Biden Attacks Trump

In a Monday night speech, Mr. Biden launched his fiercest attack to date on outgoing President Donald Trump, calling on him to accept the election results and to stop “not respecting the will of the people,” the rule of law, or the Constitution.

Mr. Biden delivered the speech from his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, following the Electoral College vote.

“The flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago. And we now know that nothing — not even a pandemic or an abuse of power — can extinguish that flame,” Mr. Biden said. “And now, it’s time to turn the page as we’ve done throughout our history. To unite. To heal.”

“I believe that we’ll see the page-turning on January 20th,” he added. “We’ll have a peaceful transition.”

It takes 270 electoral votes to win the presidency, and it was California, the state with the largest population and 55 electoral votes, which put Mr. Biden over the top on Monday. Mr. Biden received 306 electoral votes to President Trump’s 232.

“At noon on Jan. 20th, Joe Biden’s going to be president of the United States,” said Rick Bloomingdale, a Biden elector in Pennsylvania and President of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO.

“It’s mind-boggling to me that we have people that are actually trying to conduct a coup and take the votes away from the voters,” he added.

It is reported that Donald Trump has no other opportunity to deny Mr. Biden’s victory in light of the failure of his legal campaign to reverse the results.

President Trump now has only an opportunity to persuade Congress not to accept the outcome of the Electoral College vote during a special session on January 6, an effort that will almost certainly fail.

“I know this isn’t the outcome some want. It isn’t what I want, either,” Republican Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield said in a statement supporting the Electoral College vote for Mr. Biden. “But we have a republic if we can keep it. And I intend to.”

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