The Kremlin said on Monday it could neither confirm nor deny whether Russian President Vladimir Putin had spoken to US President Donald Trump by phone.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump indicated that the two men had been in contact. That would mark the first officially acknowledged conversation between Putin and a US president since early 2022.
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he was unable to say more about the subject, noting that a day earlier he had said he was unable to confirm or deny that Putin and Trump had been in touch.
"I made a statement to that effect yesterday," Peskov told reporters on a conference call when asked if Putin and Trump had spoken by phone. "And there is nothing else I can say. I can neither confirm nor deny it."
The US President has repeatedly said he wants to end the Ukraine war and that he will meet with Putin to discuss it, though the date or venue for such a meeting has not been announced.
Reuters reported in November that Putin is open to discussing a Ukraine peace deal with Trump but rules out making any major territorial concessions and insists that Kyiv abandon ambitions to join NATO.
