The Kremlin denied a phone call took place between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President-elect Donald Trump last week.
According to a report in The Washington Post, the two leaders spoke on Thursday. The Republican was said to have cautioned Putin against escalating the war in Ukraine and reminded the Russian leader about the U.S.’s military presence in Europe.
The two men discussed the goal of peace on the European continent and Trump expressed an interest in follow-up conversations to discuss “the resolution of Ukraine’s war soon,” one of the people said.
In his presidential campaign, Trump said he would bring an immediate end to the war in Ukraine, though did not offer details about how he intended to do so. He has signaled privately that he would support a deal where Russia kept some captured territory, and during the call he briefly raised the issue of land, people familiar with the matter said.
The call, which has not been previously reported, comes amid general uncertainty about how Trump will reset the world’s diplomatic chessboard of U.S. allies and adversaries after his decisive victory on Tuesday. Trump told NBC on Thursday that he had spoken to about 70 world leaders since the election, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — a call that Elon Musk also joined. (The Washington Post)
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the report about a phone call is “completely untrue.”
“This is the most obvious example of the quality of the information that is now published, sometimes even in fairly respected publications," he told Russian news agency Interfax. "This is completely untrue. This is pure fiction, this is simply false information."
Trump communication’s director, Steven Cheung, would not confirm whether the call took place.
"We do not comment on private calls between President Trump and other world leaders," he told Fox News Digital. "President Trump won a historic election decisively and leaders from around the world know America will return to prominence on the world stage. That is why leaders have begun the process of developing stronger relationships with the 45th and 47th President because he represents global peace and stability."
