‘Hope US wouldn't release Trump-putin calls’

MOSCOW: Russia voiced hope Friday that the US administration wouldn't publish private conversations between the two nations' presidents, like it did with Ukraine.

The rough transcript of Trump's call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy released by the White House Wednesday shows that Trump urged Ukraine to "look into" his Democratic political rival Joe Biden.

The July 25 call is now the focus of a US impeachment probe.

Asked if Moscow is worried that the White House could similarly publish transcripts of Trump's calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that "we would like to hope that it wouldn't come to that in our relations, which are already troubled by a lot of problems."

Speaking in a conference call with reporters, he emphasised that the publication of the Trump-zelenskiy call is an internal US issue, but added that it was "quite unusual" to release a confidential call between leaders.

"The materials related to conversations between heads of states are usually classified according to normal international practice," he said.

The publication of the call, in which the presidents made critical comments about German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, has drawn acerbic comments from other Russian officials and lawmakers.

"We are waiting for the party to continue," said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.