Kremlin "doesn't speak to Putin after Trump leaves office"

Russia has denied claims that it has spoken to Vladimir Putin several times even after former U.S. President Donald Trump stepped down as president.

According to foreign media on the 9th, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, "Trump has never spoken to Putin since he stepped down as president."

U.S. journalist Bob Woodward claimed in his upcoming new book War that he spoke to Putin several times even after Trump left the White House in January 2021.

According to CNN's pre-acquired report of the book, Woodward wrote, "According to the adviser, Trump has had several calls between Trump and Putin since leaving the White House and may have spoken seven times."

It also states that in 2020, when the spread of COVID-19 was at its peak, former President Trump sent Putin diagnostic equipment from Abbott in the United States.

The Kremlin described it as a conventional exchange of medical supplies between countries in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, although there was a fact that diagnostic equipment was provided in the United States at the time.

Russia also sent ventilation equipment, and a number of inspection equipment came from the United States, he said. "However, the initial equipment was very crude, and it was customary to exchange such goods at the time."

Vice President Kamala Harris criticized Trump in this regard, saying, "Trump respects the so-called strongman (dictator), and Trump plays into dictators who flatter and provide favors."