Russia says White House cannot publish Trump-Putin phone calls without its permission

‘This is a certain diplomatic practice,’ says Kremlin spokesperson

The Kremlin said on Monday that Washington would need Russian consent to publish transcripts of phone calls between the US president, Donald Trump, and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

Congress is determined to get access to Mr Trump’s calls with Mr Putin and other world leaders, the US House Intelligence Committee’s chairman said on Sunday, citing concerns that the Republican president may have jeopardised national security.

Asked about those comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Russia would be prepared to discuss the issue with Washington if it sent Moscow a signal.

However, he said such disclosures were not normal diplomatic practice.

“Of course their publication is to some extent only possible by mutual agreement of the parties. This is a certain diplomatic practice,” Mr Peskov said.

“To be more specific, perhaps, diplomatic practice in general does not envisage their publication,” he said.

“If there are some signals from the Americans, then we will discuss (them).”

The Democratic-led House last week launched an impeachment inquiry into Mr Trump in the aftermath of a whistleblower complaint alleging that the US president had solicited interference by Ukraine in the 2020 US election for his own political benefit.

The White House released a memo summarising Mr Trump’s 25 July phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukranian president, after the allegations set off a US domestic political storm.

Reuters