The Kremlin has denied reports that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, spoke to the US president-elect, Donald Trump, calling the media reports “pure fiction”.
The Washington Post first reported that a call had taken place, citing unidentified sources, and said that Trump had told Putin that he should not escalate the Ukraine war. Reuters also reported that a call had happened.
“It is completely untrue. It is pure fiction; it is simply false information,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said when asked about the call. “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.
Peskov added that Putin had no specific plans to speak to Trump at present.
According to the Washington Post, Trump reminded Putin of “Washington’s sizeable military presence in Europe.” It added that Trump expressed interest in follow-up conversations on “the resolution of Ukraine’s war soon”.
The reported call took place after Putin on Thursday congratulated Trump on his election win and expressed admiration for the way Trump reacted to an assassination attempt during the campaign.
Trump has also spoken to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Wednesday, according to media reports.
Peskov on Monday also accused European leaders of continuing to seek a “strategic defeat” of Russia. Peskov was responding to a question about the possibility that Britain would allow Ukraine to use Storm Shadow long-range missile systems to hit targets inside Russia.
The Kremlin repeatedly said Putin was ready to discuss Ukraine with the west but that it did not mean that he was willing to alter Moscow’s demands.
On 14 June, Putin staked out a maximalist position for an end to the war: Ukraine would have to drop its Nato ambitions and withdraw all its troops from all the territory of four regions claimed by Russia.
During the election campaign, Trump said he would find a solution to end the war “within a day”, but did not explain how he would do so.
Washington has provided tens of billions of dollars worth of US military and economic aid to Ukraine since it was invaded by Russia in February 2022, funding that Trump has repeatedly criticised and railed against with other Republican lawmakers.
