MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia would back U.S. President Donald Trump’s candidature for the Nobel Peace Prize, state news agency TASS quoted Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov as saying on Friday.

The winner of the 2025 prize will be announced at 0900 GMT, but experienced watchers of the award say it is highly unlikely to be Trump.

Russia has said repeatedly that it is grateful for Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in remarks published on Thursday that Kyiv would nominate Trump for the Nobel, which he openly covets, if he managed to bring about a ceasefire.

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Gleb Stolyarov; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)