Putin mum on win

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t congratulate US President-elect Joe Biden until legal challenges to the US election are resolved and the result is official, the Kremlin announced yesterday.

A few world leaders who have not commented on Biden’s victory, after President Donald Trump’s team has promised legal action, alleging voter fraud. China, Brazil,

Turkey and Mexico also held out on congratulations. Russian officials blamed difficult Moscow-Washington relations on alleged “Russophobia” from the Barack Obama years, when Biden was vice-president.