Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated President-elect Joe Biden's victory greater than a month after the current presidential election, hanging a conciliatory tone in a telegram on Tuesday regardless of rising tensions between the 2 powers. "Putin wished the president-elect each success and expressed confidence that Russia and the USA, which bear particular duty for world safety and stability, can, regardless of their variations, actually contribute to fixing many issues and challenges that the world is at the moment going through," the Kremlin introduced in a press release Tuesday morning, hours after the Electoral Faculty voted to affirm Biden's victory over President Donald Trump late Monday 306-232. Russia was among the many remaining international locations to acknowledge Biden's victory and challenge congratulations, beforehand citing the continuing authorized and political actions Trump and his supporters have employed in current weeks to problem the outcomes of the election. The Kremlin didn’t point out Trump in its assertion. Cooperation between the 2 international locations is predicated on "the ideas of equality and mutual respect would meet the pursuits of the peoples of each international locations and the whole worldwide group," in accordance with a translation of the assertion. Putin added, "In my opinion, I’m prepared for interplay and contacts with you." The pledge for cooperation comes amid experiences and assertions from U.S. officers that Russian operatives mounted a complicated hacking marketing campaign in opposition to a rising variety of U.S. authorities companies and departments, together with the departments of Commerce, Homeland Safety, State and Treasury, together with the Nationwide Institutes of Well being. Russian Overseas Intelligence Companies referred to as SVR is believed to have been behind the assault partially centered on SolarWinds, which makes network-management software program broadly used all through the federal authorities, together with the Protection Division and the White Home. Moscow denies any involvement within the assault. That the hackers had been in a position to infiltrate the deepest components of the federal government tasked with defending in opposition to such assaults has raised widespread concern in regards to the effectiveness of U.S. federal efforts to guard its networks. The State Division on Tuesday not directly focused Russia via new sanctions imposed in opposition to NATO ally Turkey for having agreed to buy Russian S-400 missile methods, regardless of repeated warnings from the U.S. in opposition to the sale. "That's billions of {dollars} that Putin's struggle machine is not going to get and thru which the Kremlin's malign affect is not going to unfold," Assistant Secretary for Worldwide Safety and Nonproliferation Christopher Ford advised reporters Monday in a digital press convention. "And that's additionally a slew of strategic relationships between the Kremlin and abroad companions that won’t broaden and deepen." Trump has confronted criticism all through his administration for overly cozy ties to Putin, together with hardly ever criticizing the Russian chief in public. His administration has in current weeks shifted from a overseas coverage geared toward countering Russia and China as America's chief adversaries to as an alternative focus totally on perceived threats from Beijing.