The Kremlin has denied media reports that Donald Trump held a call with Vladimir Putin, in which the US president-elect was said to have warned the Russian president against escalating the war in Ukraine.

The call, which was first reported by the Washington Post on Sunday, is said to have happened on Thursday.

Trump is also reported to have mentioned America’s “sizeable military presence in Europe” to Putin.

When asked for confirmation of the call, Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung told the BBC: “We do not comment on private calls between President Trump and other world leaders.”