Mr Trump and First Lady Melania Trump revealed they had the virus late on Thursday, hours after it was revealed by US media that White House aide Hope Hicks had earlier tested positive.
In a telegram sent to the White House, Mr Putin expressed “sincere support in this difficult moment” and hoped for Mr and Ms Trump’s speedy recovery.
“I am certain that your inherent vitality, good spirits and optimism will help you cope with this dangerous virus,” Mr Putin said in the telegram, according to the Interfax news agency.
The bombshell news Mr Trump is now ill, just weeks before November’s election, immediately threw the race for the presidency into chaos.
The US president has gone into isolation at the White House and will be stuck there for at least the next two weeks, and potentially longer if he fails to recover swiftly.
Other get well messages for Mr Trump poured in from foreign capitals across the world.
“My best wishes to President Trump and the First Lady. Hope they both have a speedy recovery from coronavirus,” tweeted UK prime minister Boris Johnson.
European Council president Charles Michel wished America’s First Couple a speedy recovery, tweeting: “Covid-19 is a battle we all continue to fight. Everyday. No matter where we live.»
But disappointed by Washington’s leadership during the global health crisis, some messages were laced with stinging barbs.
“This demonstrates that the virus spares no one, including those who have shown scepticism. I wish him a swift recovery,» said Gabriel Attal, spokesman for the French government.
Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of China’s state-controlled Global Times newspaper, tweeted: “President Trump and the first lady have paid the price for his gamble to play down the Covid-19.
“The news shows the severity of the US’s pandemic situation. It will impose a negative impact on the image of Trump and the US, and may also negatively affect his reelection.”
Putin, Biden Should Aim for More Arms Curbs – Gorbachev
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on Saturday urged Russian President Vladimir Putin and new U.S. President Joe Biden to push for deeper restrictions on nuclear weapons.
Tensions soared between the two nations under previous U.S. leader Donald Trump, fuelled by allegations of sweeping cyberattacks and a litany of other disagreements.
But soon after Biden took office, the two powers extended a pact that limits each side to 1,550 nuclear warheads, which Putin hailed as a positive development.
Gorbachev told the Interfax news agency that the two leaders — who spoke by phone after Biden’s inauguration last month — should meet and discuss further arms curbs.
«I believe that it is imperative that the presidents meet. Experience shows that it is necessary to meet and negotiate,» he said.
«It is clear that the main thing is to avoid nuclear war. Since such a problem must be avoided, it is impossible to solve it alone, it is necessary to meet.
«If the desire to achieve disarmament and to strengthen security prevails, so much can be accomplished.»
Earlier this year, the 89-year-old urged the two sides to repair relations, saying that the current situation was «of great concern.»
He said that once the New START nuclear accord is extended «a more ambitious treaty» could be negotiated.
Under Trump, Washington withdrew from two major international accords — the Iran nuclear deal and the Open Skies treaty — and pulled out of a centrepiece arms control agreement with Russia, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty.
