Reports that Trump and Putin spoke in recent days are ‘pure fiction’, says Kremlin

MOSCOW – US 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 Nov 10 that Trump, who has criticised the scale of US military and financial support for Kyiv and said he will end the war quickly, had spoken to Mr Putin in recent days.

The Washington Post first reported that the call had taken place, citing unidentified sources, and said Trump had told Mr Putin that he should not escalate the Ukraine war.

But, in an unusual move, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Nov 11 that no such call had taken place.

“This is completely untrue. This is pure fiction, it’s just false information. There was no conversation,” he told reporters.

“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 whether Mr Putin had plans for any contact with Trump, Mr Peskov said: “There are no concrete plans yet.”

Asked about the purported Trump-Putin call, Mr Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director, said: “We do not comment on private calls between President Trump and other world leaders.”

Trump spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Nov 6.

The 2½-year-old war in Ukraine is entering what some officials say could be its final – most dangerous – phase as Moscow’s forces advance at their fastest pace since the early weeks of the conflict and the West ponders how the war will end.

Trump said during campaigning that he could bring peace in Ukraine within 24 hours if elected, but has given few details on how he would seek to end the biggest land war in Europe since World War II.

Mr Putin congratulated Trump on Nov 7, praised him for showing courage when a gunman tried to assassinate him, and said Moscow was ready for dialogue with the Republican President-elect.

War and peace

Russia has been signalling 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.

Mr Putin said on Sept 12 that Western approval for such a step would mean “the direct involvement of Nato countries, the US 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.

The Kremlin said it sensed European powers were nervous about Trump’s election, but that they were still “pumping weapons into Ukraine in order to continue this war to the end”.

Mr Peskov was asked about reports that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron wanted to convince US President Joe Biden to allow Ukraine to fire Storm Shadow missiles deep into Russia.

“Nothing can be ruled out,” Mr Peskov said, adding that European leaders still wanted to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia.

“We, in turn, will continue the SMO (special military operation) until we achieve all our goals,” he said. “The dynamic of the SMO is well understood by the military. They understand well what is happening. And it is probably important to note that no individual types of weapons are able to change this dynamic any more.”

Mr Putin, who ordered thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022 after eight years of fighting in eastern Ukraine, casts the 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 Mr 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. REUTERS