Washington, Dec 15 (IANS): Hours after the Electoral College put its seal on Joe Biden's victory, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday acknowledged the Democrat's election victory and referred to him as President-elect.

Noting that while millions wished the elections would have yielded a different result, "our system of government has processes to determine who will be sworn in on January 20th. The Electoral College has spoken," the Republican Senator said in the Senate.

"Today I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden. The President-elect is no stranger to the Senate. He has devoted himself to public service for many years," he said.

McConnell also congratulated Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

"I also want to congratulate the Vice President-elect, our colleague from California, Senator Harris. Beyond our differences, all Americans can take pride that our nation has a female Vice President-elect for the very first time," he said.

Interestingly, McConnell's remarks came after Russian President Vladimir Putin belatedly congratulated Biden, and expressed hope that their two nations "which bear special responsibility for global security and stability, despite their differences can truly contribute to solving many problems and challenges that the world is currently facing".

McConnell also lavishly praised the Donald Trump presidency's accomplishments, including "economic prosperity", "foreign policy", "judicial appointments", and "bold regulatory changes", saying that "it would take far more than one speech to catalogue all the major wins the Trump administration has helped deliver for the American people".

Trump, along with many Republican members of the Congress, is yet to acknowledge Biden's win.