Kremlin denies Putin-Trump call reports as 'pure fiction'
A Kremlin spokesperson said that Putin has "no concrete plans yet" to speak with Trump.
The Kremlin on Monday denied reports that US President-elect Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and said that "no conversation happened."
“This is completely untrue," Kremlin spokesman Dimitry Peskov told Russian media on Monday. "This is pure fiction; this is simply false information.”
Peskov added that "there are no concrete plans yet" for the two to speak.
The Washington Post first reported that the call took place on Thursday, the first between the two leaders since Trump's victory in the 2024 election. Sources close to the matter said that Trump advised Putin not to escalate the war in Ukraine and reminded him of the extent of Washington's military presence in Europe.
Ukrainian officials said that they weren't informed in advance of the disputed call.
Trump's strategy on Russia-Ukraine war
Trump has previously stated that he would be able to end the war in Ukraine in one day, though he has not provided details about how he would do so. Kyiv and Moscow have both publicly disputed his claim.
Trump has signaled privately that he would support a deal where Russia would keep some of the land it has captured in its two-year assault on Ukraine, according to the Sunday report. Sources told The Washington Post that he "raised the issue of land" during the disputed call.
Trump spoke with Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday, just a few days before Ukrainian forces reported that they were engaging with nearly 50,000 enemy troops in Russia's Kursk region.
"(Russian forces) are trying to dislodge our troops and advance deep into the territory we control," Ukrainian armed forces commander General Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a post on Telegram.
According to Zelensky, Ukraine is looking to "considerably strengthen" its positions on the Pokrovsk and Kurakhove fronts in the east, where the most active fighting is taking place.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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