The Kremlin rejected reports on Monday that President Vladimir Putin spoke last week with President-elect Donald Trump about the war in Ukraine, and a spokesperson for the Republican candidate refused to comment on what he called his “private calls” with world leaders.
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The Washington Post reported for the first time on Sunday, citing anonymous sources, that the two spoke on Thursday, with Trump advising Putin not to escalate the war in Ukraine and mentioning the considerable US military presence in Europe.
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What did the Kremlin say about the alleged conversation between Trump and Putin?
In a conference call on Monday with journalists, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that "there was no conversation" and that the report was "completely false, it is pure fiction."
Asked about the report, Trump's communications director, Steven Cheung, said: "We do not comment on private calls between President Trump and other world leaders.".
Speaking at a foreign policy forum on Thursday in the resort of Sochi on the Black Sea, Putin congratulated Trump on his electoral victory and praised him for what he said was a "brave" behavior during an assassination attempt against him in July.
Peskov said that "there are still no specific plans" for a conversation between Putin and Trump. Previously, he said that contacts between the two before January 20 "are not ruled out" and pointed out that the Republican magnate said that he would call Putin before the inauguration. However, he denied that the Russian presidential administration or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had any contact with Trump's campaign after the elections.
During his campaign, Trump repeatedly said he could quickly end the fighting in Ukraine, but did not offer details on how he would achieve it.
Russia has intensified attacks on civilian areas in Ukraine as the war approaches its 1,000th day. Meanwhile, Ukraine sent a massive wave of drones over the weekend that shook Moscow and its suburbs.