He said this himself in an exclusive interview with the New York Post aboard Air Force One.

"I better not say," Trump responded when asked how many times the two leaders had spoken. But he believes Putin "cares" about battlefield killings.

Trump, who has vowed to end the war in Ukraine but has not yet publicly laid out how he will do so, said last week that the war is a "bloodbath" and that his team has had "some very good conversations."

"He (Putin) wants to see people stop dying," Trump said.

Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said "many different reports are emerging".

"These communications are being conducted through different channels. It is possible that I personally do not know something, am not aware of something. So in this case I can neither confirm it nor deny it," he told Russian news agencies when asked to comment directly on the New York Post report. 

Trump, author of the 1987 book "Trump: the Art of the Deal," has repeatedly said he wants to end the war and that he will meet with Putin to discuss it, though the date or location of the summit is not yet publicly known.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are being considered by Russia as possible venues for the summit.

On 14 June 2024, the United Arab Emirates will host the United Arab Emirates. Putin set out his initial conditions for an immediate end to the war: Ukraine must give up its NATO ambitions and withdraw its troops from all territory in four Ukrainian regions it claims and which are largely controlled by Russia.

The Russian president has previously said he is ready to discuss a peace deal for Ukraine with Trump, but has ruled out the possibility of major territorial concessions and insisted that Kiev abandon its NATO membership ambitions.

However, the Kremlin has repeatedly urged caution over speculation about contacts with Trump's team over a possible peace deal.

On 6 February, Leonid Slutsky, head of the Russian parliament's international affairs committee, said preparations for such a meeting were at an "advanced stage" and that it could take place in February or March.

The last time Putin spoke with former US President Joe Biden was in February 2022, shortly before he ordered thousands of troops into Ukraine. The two leaders spoke for about an hour then, the Kremlin said.

Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward, in his 2024 book "War," reported that Trump had direct conversations as many as seven times with Putin after he left the White House in 2021.

On February 7, the US president said he would likely meet with Zelensky next week to discuss ending the war.

Trump also said that he has "always had a good relationship with Putin" and that he has a specific plan to end the war, which he has not yet revealed.

"I hope it's quick. People are dying every day. This war is so bad in Ukraine. I want to put an end to this damn thing," he added. | BGNES