The Kremlin on Monday denied reports that US President-elect Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent days, describing them as “pure fiction.”
A source told Reuters on Sunday that Trump, who criticized the amount of US military and financial support for Kiev and said he would quickly end the war, had spoken with Putin in recent days.
The source told Reuters that they are aware of the conversation, which was first reported by the Washington Post, which quoted unidentified sources as saying that Trump told Putin that he should not escalate the war in Ukraine.
In an unusual move, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that no such call had occurred between Putin and Trump.
“This is completely untrue. This is pure fiction, it is just false information,” he told reporters. “There was no conversation.”
“This is the most striking example of the quality of information being published now, sometimes even in fairly reputable publications,” he said.
Asked whether Putin had plans to have any contacts with Trump, Peskov said: “There are no concrete plans yet.”
Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last Wednesday.
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In response to a question about the alleged call between Trump and Putin, Stephen Cheung, Trump’s communications director, said: “We do not comment on private calls between President Trump and other world leaders.”
Republican Trump will take office on January 20 after winning the presidential election that took place on November 5. The White House said Biden invited Trump to visit the Oval Office on Wednesday.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Sunday that Biden’s most important message will be his commitment to ensuring a peaceful transfer of power, and that he will also talk to Trump about what is happening in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
“President Biden will have the opportunity over the next 70 days to make the case to Congress and the incoming administration that the United States should not withdraw from Ukraine, and that withdrawing from Ukraine means more instability in Europe,” Sullivan told CBS. “Face the Nation” program on Al Akhbar Channel.
Sullivan was asked if Biden would ask Congress to pass legislation allowing more funding to Ukraine.
He added: “I am not here to present a specific legislative proposal. He said President Biden will make clear that we need continued resources for Ukraine after the end of his term.
Washington has provided tens of billions of dollars in U.S. military and economic aid to Ukraine since its invasion by Russia in February 2022, funding that Trump has repeatedly criticized and against which he has rallied with other Republican lawmakers.
Trump said last year that if he had been in the White House at the time, Putin would not have invaded Ukraine. He told Reuters that Ukraine may have to give up territory to reach a peace deal, something Kiev rejects and Biden has never suggested.
Zelensky said on Thursday that he was not aware of any details of Trump’s plan to quickly end the war and that he was convinced that a quick end to the war would require major concessions from Kiev.
According to the Government Accountability Office, Congress has allocated more than $174 billion to Ukraine under Biden. The pace of aid is almost certain to decline under Trump, as Republicans are expected to control the US Senate with a majority of 52 seats.
Control of the US House of Representatives in the next Congress is not yet clear, with some votes still being counted. Republicans won 213 seats, according to Edison Research, just short of the 218 needed for a majority. If Republicans win both chambers, it means the majority of Trump’s agenda will have a much easier time moving through Congress.
Republican US Senator Bill Hagerty, a Trump ally and considered one of the most prominent contenders for the position of Secretary of State, criticized US funding for Ukraine in an interview with CBS.
“The American people want to protect sovereignty here in America before we spend our money and resources to protect another country’s sovereignty,” Hagerty said.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Brendan O’Brien and Moscow Burrow; Additional reporting by Moira Warburton; Editing by Bill Berkrot, Diane Kraft, Timothy Heritage and John Boyle)
