Kremlin has denied reports that President Putin and president-elect Donald Trump spoke on the phone the Washington Post is saying that Mr Trump spoke with the Russian president just hours after his election win last week urging him not to escalate the war in Ukraine but in the past few minutes the kremlin's leaders spokesperson Dimitri pesov has denied that there was any call saying it doesn't correspond at all to reality it's completely made up it's false information there was no conversation well according to the post Mr Trump made the call from his maralago residents where he said
to have reminded President Putin about the large US military presence in Europe and expressed interest in further efforts to end the war in Ukraine Donald Trump's campaign team said that they would not comment on the reports here's our North America correspondent David Willis I stop Wars with phone calls Russia should have never happened with Ukraine would have never happened if I were president would have never happened there's been uncertainty surrounding Donald Trump's intentions in regards to Ukraine but it now appears discussions started only hours after his election Victory reports of a conversation between him and
Vladimir Putin last Thursday in which according to the Washington Post the president-elect warned the Russian leader against any escalation of the conflict reports not denied by the Trump Campaign which follow a campaign pledge to end the war within a day Russia would have never happened if I were president attacking Ukraine would have never happened I knew Putin I knew him well and I'll tell you what I will have that war finished and done and settled before I get to the White House as president-elect I will get that done Mr Trump is due to meet President
Biden at the White House on Wednesday the message to an incoming president skeptical about continued us funding from an outgoing one whose support was total don't abandon Ukraine our approach Remains the Same as it's been for the last two and a half years which is to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position on the battlefield so that it is ultimately in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table and it should be up to Ukraine to decide for its own sovereignty and its own territorial Integrity when and how it goes to the negotiating table as
power is transferred there are fears the conflict could escalate this was the scene in Western Ukraine after Russia launched one of its biggest drone attacks of the war so far Ukraine is demanding NATO membership and the return of land annexed by Russia Donald Trump has reportedly assured Ukraine's leadership of his support but the question is on what terms David Willis BBC News Washington so what have we heard from the Kremlin here's our our Russia editor Steve Rosenberg none yet uh the Kremlin hasn't commented yet uh on these reports uh we haven't had confirmation from the
Trump transition team uh about the phone call um there's been no print out about the phone call which uh wasn't organized via the state department that's the case I think with with Donald Trump's other uh post-election calls with world leaders um so um all we know is what sources have told for example The Washington Post in other words that allegedly Donald Trump warned Vladimir Putin not to escalate uh the war in Ukraine and reminded him of um the American military strength uh in Europe but as I say the truth is we don't really know what
the truth is about this this uh phone call what we do know however is I think there's concern in Kev Ukrainian officials publicly are trying to remain positive uh president presid zilinski was very quick to congratulate Donald Trump on his election Victory but there will be concern about what Donald Trump was saying in the runup to the US election uh his total lack of criticism of Vladimir Putin over Vladimir Putin's fullscale invasion of Ukraine at times Trump seemed to blame Joe Biden more than Vladimir Putin for Putin's invasion of Ukraine claiming that if he'd been
in the White House Donald Trump then Vladimir Putin wouldn't have invaded Ed and uh Trump was very critical about the scale of US military and economic assistance uh for KF the tens of billions of dollars that America has sent Ukraine added to all of that if you think back to September and what jdance the uh Vice president-elect was saying he sort of sketched out what a a peace deal for Ukraine could look like it sounded very similar to what Vladimir Putin had been talking about in other words under that idea Russia would get to keep
uh the territory that it had seized already there would be some kind of demilitarized zone and Ukraine would have to sign up to neutrality in other words Ukraine would not be able to to join NATO if that's the kind of deal we're talking about uh over the next few months that will not go down well uh in Kev but as I say very few details in these reports of a phone call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin so our Russia editor there Steve Rosenberg uh and we were speaking to him just before we got more
details of that uh Dimitri Pesco of Kremlin spokesperson saying that denying that there had been any call so obviously a lot of unclarity and we'll get to the bottom of it
