Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Donald Trump on winning the US election, praising him for showing courage when a gunman tried to assassinate him, and saying Moscow is 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.

“His behaviour at the moment of an attempt on his life left an impression on me," Putin said. "He turned out to be a brave man."

“He behaved, in my opinion, in a very correct way, courageously, like a real man,” Putin added at the Valdai discussion club in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi.

“I take this opportunity to congratulate him on his election.”

Vladimir Putin speaks at Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi, Russia. – AP

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.

The Kremlin earlier welcomed Trump’s claim that he could negotiate an end to the conflict in Ukraine “in 24 hours” but emphasised that it will wait for concrete policy steps.

As to what he expects from a second Trump administration, Putin said: “I don’t know what will happen now. I have no idea.”

“For him, this is still his last presidential term. What he will do is his matter,” Putin said.

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.

Trump said he has not spoken with Putin since his election victory this week but added "I think we'll speak", according to an interview with Trump published by NBC on Thursday.

Trump told NBC that he's probably spoken to 70 world leaders since Wednesday morning.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday the Kremlin is not ruling out the possibility of contact between Putin and Trump before the inauguration, given that Trump “said he would call Putin before the inauguration.”

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

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin during Trump's previous presidency. – file

Peskov has emphasised that Moscow views the US as an “unfriendly” country that is directly involved in the Ukrainian conflict. He dismissed arguments that Putin’s failure to reach out quickly to Trump could hurt future ties, saying that Moscow’s relations with Washington already are at the “lowest point in history” and arguing that it will be up to the new US leadership to change the situation.

Putin earlier condemned the US for seeking to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia in Ukraine and said a struggle was underway to shape a new world order as the Western-dominated post-Cold War era crumbled.

"We have come to a dangerous line," Putin said.

"The calls of the West to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, a country with the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons, demonstrates the exorbitant adventurism of Western politicians," said Putin.

The West had arrogantly sought to cast Russia as a defeated power after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, he said, describing the US-led NATO military alliance as an anachronism.

Russia, he said, did not consider Western civilisation to be the enemy despite attempts by the United States and its allies to isolate Moscow.

The world was changing in any case, he said, and many powerful countries did not want to isolate Russia.

"The former structure of the world is irrevocably disappearing, we can say it has already gone, and a serious, irreconcilable struggle is unfolding for the formation of a new one," Putin said.

"The world needs Russia, and no decisions by supposed superiors in Washington or Brussels can change that."

The Kremlin’s cautious stand reflected its view of the US vote as a choice between two unappealing possibilities. While Trump is known for his admiration of Putin, the Russian leader has repeatedly noted that during Trump’s first term, there were “so many restrictions and sanctions against Russia like no other president has ever introduced before him”.