Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has disputed that Donald Trump has spoken to him in recent days, adding that he has no specific plans to communicate with him.
The Washington Post initially reported the supposed call on Sunday, citing unidentified sources, and said that Trump told Putin not to escalate the Ukraine war. Reuters also covered the call, citing an unidentified source.
According to the Washington Post, during the purported chat, Trump allegedly cautioned Russia’s president not to escalate the conflict in Ukraine and reminded him of ‘Washington’s considerable military commitment in Europe. However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has disputed that the call took place. ‘This is entirely false. This is pure fiction, it’s just false information,’ he said. ‘There was no conversation.’
‘This is the most obvious example of the quality of the information that is being published now, sometimes even in fairly reputable publications,’ Peskov said.
Asked if Putin had plans for any contacts with Trump, Peskov said: ‘There are no concrete plans yet.’
Trump promised during his campaign that if elected, he could bring peace to Ukraine in 24 hours, but he has provided few details on how he plans to finish Europe’s largest land battle since World battle II.
On Thursday, Putin congratulated Trump, hailed him for his bravery in the face of an assassination attempt, and stated that Moscow was willing to engage in discussion with the Republican president-elect. Trump wants British troops to establish an 800-mile buffer zone between Russia and Ukraine (article image).
The war in Ukraine is entering what some officials believe to be its penultimate – and most dangerous – phase, as Moscow’s forces advance at their quickest rate since the early weeks of the conflict, and the West wonders how the battle will finish.