The Kremlin denied reports that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump had spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, describing the media reports as “pure fiction.”
The Washington Post initially reported that the phone conversation took place on Thursday, while Reuters also reported that the two leaders had a discussion. Both cited unidentified sources.
“This is the most obvious example of the quality of the information that is being published now, sometimes even in fairly reputable publications,” Peskov noted.
During the alleged conversation between Trump and Putin, the former advised the Russian leader not to escalate the war in Ukraine.
Trump had pledged to end the largest land conflict in Europe since WWII in just 24 hours should he be elected president, divulging little detail, however, on how he would achieve this.
President Joe Biden is expected to discuss top U.S. priorities with the president-elect on Wednesday.
Zelenskiy, speaking at a news conference at the European Political Community summit in Budapest on Thursday, said that he remains unaware of the specifics of Trump’s plan to end the war swiftly, doubting that such an outcome would be favorable to Ukraine without significant compromises.