Putin to wait for official results to endorse Biden: Reports
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Moscow: As world leaders rushed to congratulate US President-elect Joe Biden on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin is yet to acknowledge the election results citing 'legal process'.
Quoting Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, state-run TASS news agency said that the country believes "it's correct to wait for the official results of the elections to be announced,"
Putin was one of the first to heap praise on Donald Trump when the latter won the 2016 election. When asked why Putin congratulated Trump less than 12 hours after he was projected as winner in 2016, Peskov pointed to the legal dispute of the results in US this time.
Russia has been accused of collusion in the 2016 US election to help get Trump elected.
World leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi were among the world leaders who congratulated Biden after TV channels declared Saturday that Biden had taken unchallengeable lead over Trump. China also has refused to congratulate Biden. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin on Monday told press that "the outcome of the election will be determined in accordance with US laws and procedures.
Trump has refused to concede defeat and had complained in a tweet on Sunday, "Since when does the Lamestream Media call who our next president will be?"