The Kremlin refused to confirm or deny a report on a phone call between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, amid an absence of any official word between the two leaders since Trump came to power, despite his pledge to quickly find a solution to the Ukraine conflict.
According to a New York Post report, Trump described having spoken with Putin about striving to end the war in Ukraine, saying his Russian counterpart apparently wanted to ensure an end to the killing on both sides of the conflict. Trump reportedly also said he’d “better not say” just how many times the two of them had exchanged communications.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he wouldn’t confirm or deny the reported conversation, in comments to the TASS state news agency. “What can I say about this news item? As the administration in Washington expands its work, many different communications arise. And these communications are held through various channels,” Peskov said.
He added that considering how many discussions are going on, he could be out of the loop on some communications, hence he couldn’t confirm or deny the report.
Peskov had previously denied the occurrence of conversations between Trump and Putin prior to the resumption of the presidency by Trump. The Kremlin said it was looking for “signals” that could denote a possible meeting between the two presidents, with nobody from Trump’s new administration contacting it for such a meeting.
