Putin Still Won't Congratulate Biden as Russian Media Ponders 'Harsh Critic' Blinken

The spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the Kremlin has still not congratulated U.S. president-elect Joe Biden despite President Donald Trump giving the go ahead for transition resources to be allocated.

Even though without conceding defeat, Trump tweeted he had recommended that the General Affairs Administration (GSA) "do what needs to be done" to facilitate a presidential transition, the Kremlin says that it would still wait for the official results before it would welcome a new U.S. president.

"No, that's not enough," Dmitry Peskov, Russia's presidential spokesman told reporters on Tuesday, referring to Trump's tweet. "You know that reviews and recounts in some states are still continuing, without which the results of the election cannot be officially announced," he added, according to Interfax.

"Nothing has changed here, as it was said from the very beginning."

Russia's reticence comes as it considers what the impact of a Biden presidency will have on relations between Moscow and Washington, which riven by sanctions, are already at an historic low.

Russia's deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said that "whoever ends up in the White House...I see no reason to hope for a dynamic improvement in Russian-American relations," the TASS news agency reported.

He also described how "the inertia of its approaches to Russia" from the U.S. would "leave no chance of moving on an upwards trajectory, at least in the medium term," according to Tass.

Meanwhile, Russian media analyzed the announcement of Antony Blinken as Biden's incoming Secretary of State. The news channel Rossiya 24 TV described Blinken as a "harsh critic of Russia" who supported sanctions despite calling for "an improvement in relations" according to BBC monitoring.

The newspaper Kommersant said that Blinken's appointment will "have advantages for Moscow," in part because he "speaks on behalf of the country's leadership, has a negotiating mandate and direct access to the president."

Although he has been highly critical of Putin and Russia before, those in power in Moscow consider Blinken "sane" and thus, "this is not the worst option," according to the piece headlined "Here is Blinken."

The mass circulation tabloid Moskosvsky Komsomolets described Blinken as someone who "takes a hard hawkish approach to Russia" in an article which also said, "He considers our country a traditional enemy and is known as a supporter of tough sanctions.

"On the face of it, Blinken appears to be a 'Nice Guy' who will act with restraint and constructiveness in rebuilding relationships that were broken during Donald Trump's presidency."

However it went on to say that Blinken was an "inveterate hawk" and that "all his views point to the fact that human rights can and should be protected by any radical measures, including bombing."