The Kremlin on Monday rejected reports that President Vladimir Putin spoke last week with President-elect Donald Trump about the war in Ukraine, and a spokesman for Trump refused to comment on what he called his “private calls” with world leaders.
The Washington Post first reported on Sunday, citing anonymous sources, that the two spoke on Thursday, with Trump advising Putin not to escalate the war in Ukraine and cited the sizable U.S. military presence in Europe.
In a conference call Monday with journalists, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said “there was no conversation” and the report was “completely untrue, it is pure fiction.”
Asked about the report, Trump's communications directory Steven Cheung said, “We do not comment on private calls between President Trump and other world leaders.”
Speaking at a foreign policy forum Thursday in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi, Putin offered congratulations to Trump on his election victory and praised him for what he said was “brave” behavior during an assassination attempt on him in July.
Peskov said “there are no specific plans yet” for a conversation between Putin and Trump. He said previously that contacts between the two before Trump's inauguration “are not ruled out” and pointed to Trump saying that he would call Putin before the inauguration. He denied, however, that Russia's presidential administration or Foreign Ministry had any contacts with Trump's campaign after the election.
During his campaign, Trump repeatedly said he could quickly end the fighting in Ukraine but did not offer details of how he would accomplish that.
Russia has intensified strikes on civilian areas in Ukraine as the war approaches its 1,000-day mark. For its part, Ukraine over the weekend sent a massive wave of drones that rattled Moscow and its suburbs.
FILE - Then-Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Mint Hill, N.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, leaves a meeting with foreign policy experts at the Valdai Discussion Club in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, early Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (Maxim Shipenkov/Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to a question during a meeting with foreign policy experts at the Valdai Discussion Club in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (Maxim Shipenkov/Pool Photo via AP)
NEW YORK (AP) — Ten people were wounded in a shooting Wednesday night outside a nightclub in New York City that was holding a memorial for a teenager who had been previously been killed in the city.
Police said three or four men fired about 30 shots at a crowd of people who were standing outside Amazura Concert Hall in Jamaica, Queens, for the private event before running to a car and driving off.
Six females and four males between the ages of 16 and 20 were taken to hospitals but are expected to recover, police said.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said the club was holding a small private event to celebrate the life of a teen who had been killed in Brooklyn late last year.
“They just wanted to cause destruction,” he said of the shooters.
In a statement on social media, Gov. Kathy Hochul said “a memorial for a teen lost to gun violence turned to horror when gunmen opened fire on the crowd.”
“This cannot be our normal,” Hochul wrote.
Police have not yet announced any arrests.
Images from outside the club after the shooting show debris strewn across the sidewalk and police gathering evidence and taking photographs. Nearby residents described quick bursts of gunfire along with screaming.
“It was bam, bam, bam, bam,” Maria Lopez told The New York Times. “I thought it was fireworks. I was saying to myself, it’s too late in the evening for this, too late for it to be New Year’s celebrations.”
About 90 people were inside the club while a smaller group of about 15 were standing outside, police said.
“It lasted about 10 seconds and then there was silence,” neighborhood resident Juan Alulema told the New York Post. “I saw people screaming.”
Amazura Concert Hall urged the public to contact police with any information about the shooting.
“We are deeply saddened by the recent and unfortunate isolated incident that occurred," the venue said in an Instagram post. “Our hearts go out to all those affected by this senseless act.”
Members of the media work in front of the nightclub Amazura, left, in the Queens borough of New York, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Members of the media work in front of the nightclub Amazura, left, in the Queens borough of New York, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Members of the media work in front of the nightclub Amazura, left, in the Queens borough of New York, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Members of the media work in front of the nightclub Amazura, left, in the Queens borough of New York, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Members of the media work in front of the nightclub Amazura in the Queens borough of New York, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Members of the media work in front of the nightclub Amazura, left, in the Queens borough of New York, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
In this grab taken from a video provided by the New York Police Department, Chief of Patrol Philip Rivera, centre, speaks to the media during a press conference in New York, early Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, the day after a shooting outside a nightclub in Queens. (NYPD via AP)
