US President-elect Donald Trump called Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday and discussed the war in Ukraine, the Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

It was the first telephone conversation between the two men after Trump’s victory in the US elections.

Trump, speaking from his Florida resort, urged Putin not to escalate the war in Ukraine, the Washington Post reported. He also reminded him of “Washington’s considerable military presence in Europe,” a source familiar with the discussion said on condition of anonymity.

The two men discussed the goal of peace on the European continent, and Trump expressed interest in follow-up talks to discuss “ending the war in Ukraine soon,” the sources said.

Trump had also spoken with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday and said he would support Kiev, according to media reports. The newspaper reports that Kiev had been informed of the Trump-Putin phone call, and had no objection to it taking place, which Kiev however denies.

According to Reuters, Donald Trump’s staff has clarified that Brian Lanza, who told the BBC that “Crimea is lost”, “had cooperation with the election campaign but does not work for President Trump and does not speak for him”.

Joe Biden will discuss America’s top priorities with the new president on Wednesday.

Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the record number of Russian drone attacks against his country in a new post.

“Less predictable”

Meanwhile, Moscow is cautious about Donald Trump, keeping a wait-and-see attitude.

The new US president is less predictable in implementing his campaign statements than current US President Joe Biden and his election rival, Democratic Representative Kamala Harris, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Sunday.

“In the design of Mrs. Harris and Mr. Biden, it’s all pretty predictable — the line they’ll take by the time they leave the White House. Mr. Trump is less predictable in this regard. And it is probably less predictable to what extent he will stick to the statements he made during the election campaign,” the Russian official said.

Russia will now take a wait-and-see attitude towards the new American president. As Peskov pointed out, Russia will wait and monitor further developments, but “in the meantime it will deal with its own affairs”.