Source says Trump advised Putin not to escalate Ukraine war, Kremlin denies conversation
The Kremlin has denied media reports that Trump recently advised Putin not to escalate the Ukraine war
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and advised him not to escalate the Ukraine war, a source familiar with the conversation said, but the Kremlin denied the two had spoken.
The source told Reuters on Sunday that Trump, who has criticized the scale of U.S. military and financial support for Kyiv and said he will end the war quickly, had spoken to Putin in recent days.
The Washington Post first reported the call had taken place, citing unidentified sources, and said Trump had told Putin that he should not escalate the Ukraine war.
But, in an unusual move, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday no such call had taken place.
"This is completely untrue. This is pure fiction, it's just false information," he told reporters. "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," he said.
Asked if Putin had plans for any contacts with Trump, Peskov said, "There are no concrete plans yet."
Trump spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last Wednesday.
Asked about the purported Trump-Putin call, Steven Cheung, Trump's communications director, said, "We do not comment on private calls between President Trump and other world leaders."
The Republican will take office on Jan. 20 after defeating Vice-President Kamala Harris in the Nov. 5 presidential election. Biden has invited Trump to come to the Oval Office on Wednesday, the White House said.
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday that Biden's top message will be his commitment to ensure a peaceful transfer of power, and he will also talk to Trump about what's happening in Europe, in Asia and the Middle East.
"President Biden will have the opportunity over the next 70 days to make the case to the Congress and to the incoming administration that the United States should not walk away from Ukraine, that walking away from Ukraine means more instability in Europe," Sullivan told CBS News's Face the Nation show.
Massive drone attack on Moscow
Sullivan's comments came as Ukraine attacked Moscow on Sunday with at least 34 drones, the biggest drone strike on the Russian capital since the beginning of the war. On Monday, drones, glide bombs and a ballistic missile struck southern Ukraine, killing at least six civilians and injuring around 30 others.
When asked if Biden would ask Congress to pass legislation to authorize more funding for Ukraine, Sullivan deferred.
"I'm not here to put forward a specific legislative proposal. President Biden will make the case that we do need ongoing resources for Ukraine beyond the end of his term," Sullivan said.
Russia has been signaling to the United States and its allies for weeks that if they give permission to Ukraine to strike deep into Russian territory with Western-supplied missiles, then Moscow will consider it a major escalation.
Putin said on Sept. 12 that Western approval for such a step would mean "the direct involvement of NATO countries, the United States and European countries in the war in Ukraine" because NATO military infrastructure and personnel would have to be involved in the targeting and firing of the missiles.
Washington has provided tens of billions of dollars worth of U.S. military and economic aid to Ukraine since it was invaded by Russia in February 2022, funding that Trump has repeatedly criticized and rallied against with other Republican lawmakers.
Trump insisted last year that Putin never would have invaded Ukraine if he had been in the White House at the time. He told Reuters that Ukraine may have to cede territory to reach a peace agreement, something the Ukrainians reject and that Biden has never suggested.
Zelenskyy said on Thursday he was not aware of any details of Trump's plan to end the Ukraine war quickly and that he was convinced a rapid end would entail major concessions for Kyiv.
According to the Government Accountability Office, Congress appropriated over $174 billion US to Ukraine under Biden. The pace of the aid is almost sure to drop under Trump with Republicans set to take control of the U.S. Senate with a 52-seat majority. Control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the next Congress is not yet clear, with some votes still being counted.
Putin casts the 2½-year-old war as a battle between Russia and the declining West, which he says ignored Russia's interests after the 1991 Soviet collapse.
Ukraine and its Western allies say Putin unleashed an imperial-style war against its smaller neighbour and have repeatedly said that if Russia wins the war then autocratic countries across the world will be emboldened.
Republican U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty, a Trump ally who is considered a top contender for secretary of state, criticized U.S. funding for Ukraine, in a CBS interview.
"The American people want sovereignty protected here in America before we spend our funds and resources protecting the sovereignty of another nation."