President Vladimir Putin criticized the Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday after Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2025.

 

 

Dubbed one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America, Machado was recognized for promoting democratic rights and for her struggle to achieve a peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.

 

Speaking to the press after concluding his state visit to Tajikistan, a reporter asked Putin about his position on President Donald Trump’s suitability for the renowned global accolade.

 

 

Although the president didn’t fault Machado’s win, he said there have been cases where the committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to individuals “who had done nothing for peace.”

 

“In my view, these decisions inflicted enormous damage on the prize’s prestige,” Putin averred. “A person comes along – good or bad – and within a month or two, boom. For what?

 

“They had done absolutely nothing. Is that how it should work? It ought to be awarded for actual merits. I believe its prestige has been significantly undermined.”

 

 

Noting that who gets the award isn’t his decision, the Russian leader noted that his American counterpart has “genuinely done much to resolve complex crises that have persisted for years, if not decades.”

 

Putin’s comment is believed to be a veiled reference to Barack Obama, the 44th United States President, who had been in office for less than eight months when he was bestowed the prize in 2009.

 

Also reacting on Friday, Trump confirmed that he spoke with Machado. According to the president, the Venezuelan politician told him, “I’m accepting this in honor of you, because you really deserved it.”

 

 

White House communications director Steven Cheung accused the Nobel Committee of placing “politics over peace” by honoring the 58-year-old pro-democracy activist ahead of Trump.

 

“He (the president) has the heart of a humanitarian, and there will never be anyone like him who can move mountains with the sheer force of his will,” Cheung wrote on X after the announcement.

 

But the seeming denigration of the Nobel Committee appears misguided because Trump was sworn in for a second term in January, the same month the nomination window closes, according to the award’s website.