Nov. 11 (UPI) — The Kremlin on Monday denied reports that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week.
“This is completely untrue, it is pure fiction. That is, this is simply false information. There was no conversation,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Russia.
A spokesperson for Trump said the president-elect’s camp would not comment confirm or deny the report.
“We do not comment on private calls between President Trump and other world leaders,” Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung told the BBC in a statement.
The Washington Post reported late Sunday Trump took part in a call with Putin from Florida earlier on Thursday following his victory in the U.S. election, citing multiple sources that were present at the time.
During the call, Trump reportedly expressed to Putin the United States’ desire that Russia not escalate the war in Ukraine, The Post reported.
Ukrainian officials also said they were not aware of a call taking place between the two world leaders.
“Reports that the Ukrainian side was informed in advance of the alleged call are false. Subsequently, Ukraine could not have endorsed or opposed the call,” Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said in a statement to POLITICO.
The news comes as military exchanges continue between Ukraine and Russia.
Ukraine on Sunday confirmed it had launched a massive drone attack on Moscow overnight, the largest on the Russian capital since hostilities broke out more than two years ago.