Key Takeaways:
- Russian President Vladimir Putin sent New Year and Christmas greetings to a range of foreign leaders, including US President Donald Trump.
- Diplomatic exchanges included a personal phone call between Putin and Trump on 28 December, with leaders wishing prosperity to their peoples.
- Messages were also addressed to BRICS members, leaders of the Global South, CIS states and several European leaders such as Aleksandar Vučić, Viktor Orbán and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
- Putin extended messages to religious and former political figures, underscoring routine diplomatic outreach at year end.
Putin Sends New Year Greetings to Global Leaders
Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent New Year and Christmas greetings to a broad spectrum of international leaders, including the president of the United States, Donald Trump, the Kremlin press service said. The messages form part of customary year‑end diplomatic exchanges that included personal contact between Moscow and Washington.
Putin congratulates world leaders
According to the Kremlin, Mr Putin and Mr Trump exchanged personal congratulations by telephone on 28 December. The two leaders also received written messages: the Russian president sent Mr Trump a holiday letter for the New Year and a separate message for Christmas. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said both leaders wished happiness and well‑being to the peoples of Russia and the United States.
Beyond the United States, the Kremlin statement said the president dispatched festive greetings to leaders across the BRICS group, the Global South and East, and to most heads of state in the Commonwealth of Independent States. Among European recipients were Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
In addition to sitting heads of state, the Russian president sent messages to religious and former political figures. The Kremlin noted greetings addressed to the Pope and to several former leaders, including ex‑German chancellor Gerhard Schröder and former Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev. The office emphasised that these messages form part of regular diplomatic practice at the turn of the year.
Analysts say such exchanges are largely ceremonial but serve practical diplomatic functions: they reaffirm channels of communication and sustain working relationships ahead of the year to come. Year‑end greetings can also provide opportunities to signal priorities or to pave the way for more substantive contacts once the holiday period ends.
For Moscow, distributing holiday messages to a wide array of partners underlines a continued emphasis on engagement with BRICS members and countries of the Global South, as well as with neighbouring CIS states and selected European capitals. The Kremlin’s release did not indicate any immediate follow‑up meetings tied to the greetings.
Observers noted the timing of the phone exchange with Mr Trump and the dual written messages as reflective of a preference for a mix of personal and formal diplomatic touches. The Kremlin’s brief account focused on the mutual wishes expressed for prosperity and happiness, without elaborating on policy matters.
As diplomatic calendars resume after the New Year, attention will turn to whether any of the leaders who received greetings use the new year as a moment to propose meetings, bilateral talks or cooperative initiatives. For now, the Kremlin presents the messages as standard diplomatic courtesies marking the change of year.
