The p. has become a mystery alleged phone call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin which the Washington Post reported, but which was denied by the Kremlin. According to the newspaper, during the call, which took place the day after the US elections, Trump urged the Russian leader not to escalate the war in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov he told reporters that the article was “simply false”, denying that there had been a phone call.
The Post, citing several people familiar with the call, reported that Trump reminded Putin of the sizable U.S. military presence in Europe and said he was open to further conversations to discuss “resolving the war in Ukraine in the near term.” Steven CheungTrump’s communications director, neither confirmed nor denied the call, telling AFP that he “does not comment on private calls between President Trump and other world leaders.”
The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to Trump on Wednesday during a phone call in which the billionaire participated Elon Musk. Trump also spoke on the phone with the German chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday and the two “agreed to work together towards a return to peace in Europe.”
The president’s outgoing Democratic administration Joe Biden confirmed that he will send as much aid as possible to Ukraine before Trump takes office on January 20, and the national security adviser Jake Sullivan he said the White House aims “to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position on the battlefield so that it can come to the negotiating table in the strongest possible position.” This would include using the remaining $6 billion in funding available for Ukraine, Sullivan said.
Any early agreement on the war would require Kiev to cede some Russian-occupied territory, and Kiev, although facing a soldier shortage and uncertainty over U.S. support, has staunchly opposed it. According to Zelensky, giving up territory or meeting other Kremlin demands would only encourage Putin to further aggression, an opinion shared by many European allies.