Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday congratulated Donald Trump on winning the U.S. election, praised him for showing courage when a gunman tried to assassinate him, and said Moscow was ready for dialogue with the Republican president-elect.

In his first public remarks since Trump's win, Putin said Trump had acted like a real man during an assassination attempt while speaking at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 14.

"He behaved, in my opinion, in a very correct way, courageously, like a real man," Putin said at the Valdai discussion club in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi. "I take this opportunity to congratulate him on his election."

Putin added that Trump had been "hounded by all sides" in the tumultuous presidential election campaign but said Trump's remarks about Ukraine and restoring relations with Russia deserved attention.

"What was said about the desire to restore relations with Russia, to bring about the end of the Ukrainian crisis in my opinion this deserves attention at least," said Putin.

Trump said during campaigning that he could bring peace in Ukraine within 24 hours if he was elected, but has given few details on how he would seek to end the biggest land war in Europe since World War Two.

The 72-year-old Kremlin chief gave just one note of caution: "I do not know what is going to happen now. I have no clue."

When pressed by a questioner what he would do if Trump called to suggest a meeting, Putin said he was ready to resume contacts if a Trump administration wanted to and was ready for discussion with Trump.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that Russia's leadership remembered Trump's words about trying to resolve the Ukraine crisis even if he exaggerated the speed at which he could do it.

Asked about Kamala Harris's warning that Putin would eat Trump for lunch, Peskov said with a chuckle: "Putin does not eat people."

Putin said that Ukraine should remain neutral for there to be a chance for peace, adding that the borders of Ukraine should be in accordance with the wishes of the people living in Russian-claimed territory.

"If there is no neutrality, it is difficult to imagine the existence of any good-neighborly relations between Russia and Ukraine," Putin said.

Putin said Russia had recognized Ukraine's post-Soviet borders based on the understanding that it would be neutral. The U.S.-led NATO military alliance has repeatedly said that Ukraine would one day join.

If Ukraine was not neutral, it would be "constantly used as a tool in the wrong hands and to the detriment of the interests of the Russian Federation," Putin said.

Russia controls about a fifth of Ukraine after more than two and a half years of war. Putin on June 14 set out his terms for an end to the conflict: Ukraine would have to drop its NATO ambitions and withdraw all of its troops from all of the territory of the regions claimed by Russia.

Ukraine rejects those conditions as tantamount to surrender and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has presented a "victory plan" for which he has requested additional Western support.

"We are determined to create conditions for a long-term settlement so that Ukraine is an independent, sovereign state, and not an instrument in the hands of third countries, and not used in their interests," Putin said.

Asked about the future borders of Ukraine, Putin said: "The borders of Ukraine should be in accordance with the sovereign decisions of people who live in certain territories and which we call our historical territories."

Ukraine says that it will not rest until every last Russian soldier is ejected from its territory though even U.S. generals say that such an aim would take massive resources that Ukraine currently does not have.