The Kremlin has denied media reports of a phone call between U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying that the reports were "completely false."
The Washington Post, citing sources close to Trump, reported on November 10 that Trump had spoken with Putin by phone on November 7 and discussed the war in Ukraine. It said Trump took the call in Florida a day after speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Unnamed sources quoted by the newspaper said Trump told Putin not to escalate the war in Ukraine and expressed an interest in further talks on "the resolution of Ukraine’s war soon."
Reuters also reported on the call.
"This is completely untrue. This is pure fiction, it's just false information," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media on November 11. "There was no conversation."
Putin initially responded coolly to Trump's big election win before informally congratulating the president-elect on November 7. He praised Trump's "courage" in surviving an assassination attempt in July and said he was “ready” to speak to him.
SEE ALSO: As Trump Prevails, Putin Tries To Play It Cool"This is the clearest example of the quality of the information that is being published nowadays, sometimes even by quite reputable outlets," Peskov said.
Peskov added that there were "no concrete plans yet" for such a call.
Peskov also said that the Kremlin has noticed "a certain nervousness" in Europe following Trump's reelection.
On the campaign trail ahead of the November 5 election, Trump claimed he would end the war in Ukraine without offering details about how he planned to do so.
Trump has previously indicated Ukraine may have to agree to give up territory to strike a peace deal with Russia.
People familiar with the call told the Post that Kyiv had been informed of the Putin call and did not object.
However, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tikhiy on November 10 told Reuters that Kyiv had had no knowledge of a call between the two.
"Reports that the Ukrainian side was informed in advance about the alleged call are false. Accordingly, Ukraine could not approve or oppose the call," Tykhiy said.