Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday offered rare and pointed praise for President Donald Trump’s role in mediating a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, describing the American leader’s diplomacy as a serious effort to resolve one of the world’s most enduring conflicts.
“He’s really doing a lot to resolve such complex crises that have lasted for years and even decades,” Putin said during a summit of former Soviet republics in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. His remarks came after a reporter asked whether he believed Trump had been unfairly denied this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado earlier in the day.
The Russian leader credited Trump for what he called a “historic” agreement if it holds, underscoring the significance of the U.S.-brokered truce between Israel and Hamas.
While Putin did not explicitly say that Trump deserved the Nobel Prize, his comments marked an unusually open acknowledgment from Moscow of Trump’s growing diplomatic footprint in the Middle East.
Putin used the opportunity to criticize the Nobel Committee, suggesting that its past decisions have diminished the credibility of one of the world’s most recognized honors. “There have been cases where the committee has awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to people who have done nothing for peace,” he said. “A person comes, good or bad, and [gets it] in a month, in two months, boom. For what? He didn’t do anything at all.”
“In my view, these decisions have done enormous damage to the prestige of this prize,” Putin continued.
Trump’s ceasefire initiative, forged through back-channel talks and shuttle diplomacy involving multiple regional actors, has been widely seen as one of the most consequential diplomatic achievements of his second term.
The agreement, according to both Israeli and U.S. officials, temporarily halted months of escalating violence in Gaza and set the groundwork for a longer-term negotiation process that could involve economic reconstruction and prisoner exchanges.
In praising Trump’s role, Putin appeared to signal an acknowledgment of the United States’ renewed influence in the Middle East under the current administration — a sharp contrast from the chaos that defined the region during the Biden years.
While Putin stopped short of endorsing Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, his comments aligned with a growing chorus of world leaders and commentators who have credited the American president with reviving diplomacy in a region many had long written off as irreparably divided.
For conservatives, the Russian president’s remarks serve as validation of Trump’s foreign policy approach — one that has favored direct engagement, transactional deal-making, and a clear emphasis on American leadership.
Putin’s statement, though unexpected, echoed a sentiment that has gained traction among Trump’s supporters: that the president’s efforts to end conflicts, rather than escalate them, have earned him a place among the few modern leaders willing to use strength as a tool for peace.
[READ MORE: Venezuelan Dissident María Corina Machado Awarded Nobel Peace Prize, Edging Out Trump’s Backers]
