Krelim's cryptic answer to ‘Trump-Putin talks to end Ukraine war’ query
Russia had denied previous reports of ‘private conversation’ between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin as “pure fiction” and “false information”.
The Kremlin on Monday avoided giving a direct answer on whether Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to US President Donald Trump to find a way to end the war in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated a statement he made earlier on Sunday when asked about Putin's contacts with Trump. “There is nothing else I can say. I can neither confirm nor deny it,” Peskov said, hinting that “many different communications are emerging”.
Trump on Sunday claimed that the US was making progress on finding a resolution to the Ukraine war, but declined to provide details on talks rumored with Putin.
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The US president was asked whether he spoke to Putin before he assumed power on January 20 or before. Trump said, “I’ve had it. Let’s just say I’ve had it...And I expect to have many more conversations. We have to get that war ended.”
“If we are talking, I don’t want to tell you about the conversations,” Trump added.
On January 23, Trump urged his Russian counterpart to make a “deal” to stop the “ridiculous” war in Ukraine and threatened to impose “high levels” of tariffs on “anything being sold by Russia to the United States and other countries”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy agreed to Trump's demand for rare earth mineral supply in return for financial support from the US and other security guarantees from its allies for its war effort.
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Details of phone conversations between Trump and Putin have remained murky. The Washington Post reported in November that Trump spoke with Putin in a private telephone conversation from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. It also claimed, without details, that Trump “briefly raised the issue of land” occupied by Russia in Ukraine.
Russia had denied such reports on ending the Ukraine war. The Kremlin had called the reports claiming such talks post Trump's election victory as “pure fiction” and “false information”.
Putin was reportedly open to discussing a Ukraine peace deal with Trump but ruled out making any major territorial concessions, Reuters reported in November. He also insisted that Kyiv abandon ambitions to join NATO, the US-led Western military alliance.
(With agency inputs)