Kremlin Confirms Trump Sent Covid Tests to Putin, Denies Phone Calls After Leaving Office

Former President Donald Trump sent coronavirus testing machines to Russian President Vladimir Putin during the early days of the pandemic, the Kremlin confirmed on Wednesday. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Bloomberg News that “we also sent equipment at the beginning of the pandemic,” referring to aid Russia gave to the U.S. at the time.

This news comes from a new book by journalist Bob Woodward titled War, which talks about the relationships between Trump, President Joe Biden, and foreign leaders. The book claims Trump secretly sent Covid-19 testing devices to Putin when they were in short supply. NBC News has not confirmed this report independently.

Peskov denied another claim from the book that Donald and Putin have spoken on the phone several times since Trump left office. “No, that’s not true,” Peskov told Russian media outlet RBC.

Trump also denied the claims in an interview with ABC News’ Jonathan Karl, calling Woodward “a storyteller, a bad one,” and accusing him of making up the story. In a separate statement, Trump’s re-election team said Woodward is biased and that “none of these made-up stories by Bob Woodward are true.”

The book, set to be released on October 15, raises questions about how Donald would handle the ongoing war in Ukraine if re-elected and whether he would continue to provide aid to the country.

Trump has repeatedly said he could end the war between Russia and Ukraine in one day if he becomes president again. However, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, said in July that “the Ukrainian crisis cannot be solved in one day.”

Trump has said his relationship with Putin is “very good” and has said the same about his relationship with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after they met at Trump Tower last month. As a private citizen, Trump would need permission from the current president to negotiate on behalf of the U.S. government.

Woodward also writes that senior Donald adviser Jason Miller said he was “not aware” of any recent conversations between Trump and Putin but added that if they wanted to talk, “they’d know how to get in touch with each other.”

Trump has been criticized for his close ties with authoritarian leaders like Putin. He has called Putin “very savvy” and “a strong man,” and has controversially called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “genius.”