Japanese PM Ishiba survives parliament vote

As Biden plans to urge Trump to keep supporting Ukraine

US president-elect Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and advised him not to escalate the Ukraine war, a source familiar with the conversation told Reuters on Sunday, as President Joe Biden plans to urge Trump not to abandon Kyiv.

Trump and Putin spoke in recent days, said the source.

Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday. Trump has criticized the scale of US military and financial support for Kyiv, vowing to end the war quickly, without saying how.

Ukraine's foreign ministry said it was not informed in advance of the call between Trump and Putin and subsequently could neither endorse nor object to it.

"We do not comment on private calls between president Trump and other world leaders," said Steven Cheung, Trump's communications director, when asked about the phone call, which was first reported by The Washington Post.