Moscow: The Kremlin on Wednesday denied Bob Woodward's reporting that former US President Donald Trump spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin as many as seven times since leaving office, the RBC daily reported. When asked by RBC if Putin and Trump had spoken on the phone, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "No, that's not true."
The Post said on Wednesday the book does not describe what the two men discussed, and it quotes a Trump campaign official casting doubt on the supposed contact. The book also cited an unnamed Trump aide as indicating that Trump may have spoken to Putin as many as seven times since Trump left the White House in 2021.
Trump’s campaign dismissed Woodward’s book and said the book's content was "made-up", the New York Times reported.
Trump had secret calls with Vladimir Putin after leaving office
The famed Watergate reporter's latest book claimed explosive details of Trump's conversations with Putin since leaving office, Biden's frustrations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and more. Notably, the details were taken from an early copy of Woodward's book, which is due out next week.
The book provides intriguing inside details about the US assessment of the possibility of Putin deploying nukes, but the Biden administration's concerns that Russia might use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine were not secret. From the president on down, numerous officials warned Putin against it.
According to Woodward's account, US President Joe Biden told National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to "get on the line with the Russians. Tell them what we will do in response”. He said to use language that was threatening but not too strong, the book says. Biden also reached out to Putin directly in a message, warning of the “catastrophic consequences” if Russia used nuclear weapons.
Austin's heated conversation with Russian counterpart
In another heated conversation laid out in Woodward's book, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin confronted his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, in October 2022. “We know you are contemplating the use of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine,” Austin said, according to Woodward. “Any use of nuclear weapons on any scale against anybody would be seen by the United States and the world as a world-changing event. There is no scale of nuclear weapons that we could overlook or that the world could overlook.”
As Shoigu listened, Austin pressed on, noting that the US had not given Ukraine certain weapons and had restricted the use of some of those it had provided. He warned that those constraints would be reconsidered. He also noted that China, India, Turkiye and Israel would isolate Russia if it used nuclear weapons. “I don't take kindly to being threatened,” Shoigu responded, the book says.
“Mr. Minister,” Austin said. “I am the leader of the most powerful military in the history of the world. I don't make threats.”
The Pentagon noted a call between Austin and Shoigu on October 21, 2022. During the call, Austin “emphasised the importance of maintaining lines of communication amid the ongoing war against Ukraine”, according to a readout provided at the time.
Biden called Xi Jinping to influence Putin's mind
US intelligence officials saw China as having the most influence over Russia, and Biden called Chinese President Xi Jinping about the need for deterrence, Woodward wrote. Xi agreed to warn Putin, according to the book.
Biden and Xi met and agreed in November 2022 that “a nuclear war should never be fought” and noted their opposition to the use or threat to deploy nuclear weapons in Ukraine, a White House statement said at the time.
(With inputs from agency)
