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The Washington Post reported that Trump told Putin not to escalate the war in Ukraine and discussed the goal of peace in Europe.
The Washington Post on Sunday claimed Trump spoke to Putin over a call for the first time since his election victory.
The Kremlin on Monday denied a US media report about a conversation between US President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Ukraine, calling it “completely untrue” and “false information”.
The remarks made by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was contrary to the report by The Washington Post on Sundaywhich claimed Trump spoke to Putin for the first time since his victory in the recent presidential election, citing several people familiar with the matter. Trump told Putin not to escalate the war in Ukraine, the US daily claimed.
Peskov said there was no conversation between the two leaders and all reports about it are false. “This is the most obvious example of the quality of the information that is now being published, sometimes even in fairly reputable outlets. This is completely untrue. This is pure fiction. This is just false information,” Peskov told reporters as quoted by Russia-based Sputnik.
There are no concrete plans for any talks between Putin and Trump as of yet, the Kremlin spokesman clarified. The report came amid general uncertainty as to how Trump would proceed with his promise of bringing an immediate end to the war in Ukraine.
The Washington Post reported that Trump spoke to the Russian leader from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and reminded him of the sizable US military presence in Europe. The two leaders also discussed the goal of peace on the European continent and Trump expressed an interest in follow-up conversations to discuss “the resolution of Ukraine’s war soon”, it said.
Trump’s Plans For Russia-Ukraine Ceasefire
Trump has promised to bring an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine before he takes office in January. He privately signalled that he would support a deal that lets Russia keep some captured territory and briefly raised the issue of land, according to people familiar with the matter.
Trump said he has spoken to about 70 world leaders since the election victory, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy – in a call which Tesla CEO Elon Musk also joined. Ukrainian officials were informed of Trump’s call with Putin and did not object to the conversation taking place, said two people involve in the matter.
According to a recent report by The TelegraphTrump’s staffers said his plan may include calling on European and British troops to enforce an 800-mile buffer zone between the Russian and Ukrainian armies in an attempt to freeze the war. This would mean Russia would keep its territorial gains in Ukraine and Kyiv can say goodbye to its plans to join NATO for 20 years.
Furthermore, the US would not contribute troops to patrol and enforce the buffer zone. “We can do training and other support but the barrel of the gun is going to be European,” a member of Trump’s team told The Wall Street Journal. “We are not sending American men and women to uphold peace in Ukraine. And we are not paying for it. Get the Poles, Germans, British and French to do it.”
Russia Sees ‘Positive Signals’ On Trump’s Ukraine Stance
On Sunday, the Kremlin said it saw “positive signals” from Trump’s position on Ukraine, while warning it was hard to predict how he would behave in office. “Trump during his election talked about how he perceives everything through deals, that he can make a deal that can lead to peace,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with state media published Sunday.
While having publicly claimed to be backing Harris in the US election, the Kremlin is widely believed to have actually wanted to see Trump return to the White House, welcoming his scepticism over American aid to Ukraine and his chaotic leadership style.
On June 14, Putin set out his terms for an end to the war: Ukraine would have to drop its NATO ambitions and withdraw all of its troops from all of the territory of four regions claimed by Russia. However, Zelenskyy rejected the terms and still stands adamantly against relinquishing territory to Vladimir Putin.
