MOSCOW, November 8. /TASS/. Former President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev thinks that Joe Biden, who has won the US presidential election according to the projections of the country’s leading media outlets, understands the importance of relations between US and Russia, and hopes that Russia and the US will be able to recover mutual trust.
In a comment to TASS on Sunday, Gorbachev branded Biden as "a well-known person with a lot of experience both in domestic and foreign policy."
Gorbachev told TASS that he had met with Biden several times, namely during his term as US Vice President. "I have met with him several times; the last time was in March 2009. He was Vice President then. We spoke for nearly an hour at the White House, and then President [Barack] Obama joined us," the former Soviet leader said. "We had a detailed and friendly conversation. I got the impression that he understands the importance of relations with Russia," he added.
"I hope that Joe Biden will strive to normalize relations and recover trust between our countries. I am confident that this is in the interest of both America and Russia," Gorbachev stated.
"There was a great deal of interest in this election across the world, and this is understandable. This is the place of the US in global politics: relations with America are important to everyone, to every country," Gorbachev told TASS on Sunday. "I am confident that Russia needs good relations with the US as well, but not at any cost, of course," Gorbachev pointed out.
On November 3, American citizens headed to the polls to elect 435 representatives to the House, 35 senators out of 100 to the Senate, and the President and Vice President of the United States. The vote counting is still underway, though the leading US media outlets project that the Democratic nominee Joe Biden has won the presidential election. Biden has announced his election victory, whereas incumbent US President Donald Trump claimed he would state his case on the voting results in court.