MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Joe Biden on winning the U.S. presidential election after weeks of holding out.
Putin’s message to Biden on Tuesday came a day after the Electoral College confirmed Biden as the nation’s next president.
The Russian president is one of the last world leaders to congratulate Biden.
The Kremlin maintained Putin was holding off on doing so until the election results were officially confirmed.
In his message, Putin wished Biden “every success" and expressed confidence that “Russia and the U.S., which bear special responsibility for global security and stability can, despite the differences, really contribute to solving many problems and challenges that the world is currently facing.”
Polish President Andrzej Duda also congratulated Biden on Tuesday, wishing him “a very successful term.”
Duda is part of a conservative Polish leadership that stands accused by the European Union of eroding democracy. He’s been a strong ally of Trump and once suggested naming a military base “Fort Trump.”
Duda received an endorsement from Trump in his own reelection campaign this year, with a last-minute invitation to the White House on the eve of the election.