Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Joe Biden after he was officially been chosen by the Electoral College as the next president of the U.S., Reuters reported.

This means that the Russian leader's congratulatory message comes nearly one-and-a-half months after the U.S. election.

Kremlin: Putin is ready to meet with Biden

Putin was cited by the Kremlin as saying:

"For my part, I am ready for interaction and contact with you."

The Krelim also highlighted:

"Putin wished the president-elect every success and expressed confidence that Russia and the United States, which have a special responsibility for global security and stability, could, despite their differences, really help to solve the many problems and challenges facing the world."

Putin previously declined to congratulate Biden

Previously on Nov. 9, the Kremlin had stated that it would not congratulate President-elect Biden until legal challenges had been resolved and the result was official, APNews reported.

A spokesperson for Putin was quoted as saying:

"Obviously, you can see that certain legal procedures are coming there, which were announced by the incumbent president — therefore this situation is different, so we consider it correct to wait for the official announcement."

Another country that took a while to congratulate Biden:

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Top collage left image by Saeima via Flickr, right image by Ennoti via Flickr