Trump Speaks To Putin, Urges Him Not To Escalate Ukraine War: Report

US president-elect Donald Trump reportedly spoke on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin and discussed the war in Ukraine. The Washington Post, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that Trump advised the Russian leader not to escalate the war in Ukraine. At the same time, Ukraine has confirmed that it was not aware of or informed it of the call in advance.

As per the report, Donald Trump also reminded Putin of America's 'sizeable military presence in Europe’. Earlier during the presidential election campaign, Trump said he would find a solution to end the war without saying how. It is worth mentioning that Donald Trump had also spoken to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday. 

The Joe Biden-led US administration has provided billions of dollars worth of military and economic aid to Ukraine since it was invaded by Russia in 2022. However, Trump has repeatedly criticised this funding. Meanwhile, Biden's national security adviser said that the outgoing president will try to convince Donald Trump not to pull support from Ukraine when he takes office. "President Biden will have the opportunity over the next 70 days to make the case to the Congress and to the incoming administration that the United States should not walk away from Ukraine, that walking away from Ukraine means more instability in Europe," adviser Jake Sullivan said in an interview with the CBS News programme.