Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Donald Trump on his election victory in his first public comment on the US vote, and he praised the president-elect’s courage during the July assassination attempt.

“His behaviour at the moment of an attempt on his life left an impression on me. He turned out to be a brave man,” Putin said at an international forum on Thursday, following a speech in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

“He manifested himself in the very correct way, bravely as a man.”

Putin’s first comments on this week’s US election came as Republicans edged closer to controlling both houses of Congress as voting continued.

Putin said what Trump had said “about the desire to restore relations with Russia, to help end the Ukrainian crisis, in my opinion, deserves attention at least”.

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

“I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate him on his election as president of the United States of America,” Putin said in a question-and-answer session at the conference.

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.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday (local time) the Kremlin was not ruling out the possibility of contact between Putin and Trump before the inauguration, given Trump “said he would call Putin before the inauguration”.

Peskov emphasised that Moscow viewed the US as an “unfriendly” country that was directly involved in the Ukrainian conflict.

He dismissed arguments that Putin’s failure to reach out quickly to Trump could hurt future ties, saying Moscow’s relations with Washington already were at the “lowest point in history” and arguing it would be up to the new US leadership to 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 to admire 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”.

Republican lead solidifies

Elsewhere, Republicans are projected to pick up another US Senate seat and appear to be retaining their hold on the House of Representatives.

That would put the party on track to control both chambers of Congress.

Several media outlets projected that Republican Dave McCormick would defeat Democratic senator Bob Casey in Pennsylvania, giving Trump’s party at least 53 seats in the 100-seat chamber in 2025.

That margin could climb as high as 55 seats if Republicans win close races in Arizona and Nevada, which remain uncalled.

In the battle for the House, Republicans were edging closer to victory on Thursday (local time).

Republicans had secured 209 seats, putting them just nine short of a majority in the 435-seat chamber.

Democrats would have to win 23 of the 31 remaining uncalled races to take a House majority and maintain a toehold on power in Washington.

A final result for Tuesday’s election might not be known for some time because 10 of the outstanding races are in California, which typically takes days to count ballots.

With control of the Senate, Republicans will be in a position to confirm Trump’s personnel and judicial appointments, though they will still be short of the 60 votes needed to quickly advance most legislation.

If they also control the House, they would be able to help Trump deliver on campaign promises such as cutting taxes and dramatically restricting immigration.

The other uncalled competitive Senate races are in Nevada, where incumbent Democrat Jacky Rosen leads Republican challenger Sam Brown by one percentage point with 94 per cent of the estimated vote counted, and in Arizona, where Democrat Ruben Gallego is ahead of Republican Kari Lake by two percentage points with 70 per cent of the estimated vote counted.

-with AAP