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White House press secretary refuses to comment on Putin’s congratulations to Biden

She said she had no information about Trump and Putin having a conversation after the Russian leader had sent his congratulatory letter to Biden

WASHINGTON, December 16. /TASS/. White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said she would not comment on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s congratulations to Joseph Biden on his victory in the US presidential election.

"No comment on that. I’ll leave it to the president to react to that," she told reporters during a White House news briefing on Tuesday.

She said she had no information about Trump and Putin having a conversation with each other after the Russian leader had sent his congratulatory letter to Biden. "Not that I’m aware, no" she said.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Kremlin press service said Russian President Vladimir Putin had sent a telegram to Joe Biden to congratulate him for the US presidential election victory. “In his telegram, Putin wished every success to the president-elect and expressed confidence that Russia and the US, who bear special responsibility for global security and stability, could, despite their differences, help solve many problems and challenges that the world now faces," the Kremlin stated.

On December 14, the US Electoral College convened and confirmed Biden’s election victory. The Democrat received 306 votes, while incumbent President Donald Trump secured 232 votes. With 538 electors, a candidate needs to get 270 votes to be elected to the office of President of the United States.

In late November, Trump, who has still not conceded, said that he would leave the White House only if the Electoral College voted for Biden. In light of this remark, the procedure which is normally considered a formality drew enormous media spotlight.

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