WASHINGTON, March 16. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump called journalists who are trying to discredit his administration's attempts to establish contacts with Russia "sick degenerates".
He pointed out that unverified information appeared in the media that his special envoy Steven Witkoff had to wait nine hours before he was received by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Why can’t they be honest, just for once? Last night I read that President Vladimir Putin of Russia kept my Highly Respected Ambassador and Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, waiting for over nine hours when, in fact, there was no wait whatsoever," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
"The only reason they made up that story is to try and demean, because they are sick degenerates, that have to start reporting the News correctly. This is why they have lost their ratings, their audience, and respect," he wrote.
Trump stressed that during his visit to Moscow, his special envoy had a series of other contacts.
"Other meetings with other Representatives of Russia did take place and, obviously, they took some time, but they were very productive. From there, things went quickly and efficiently, and all signs seem to be, hopefully, very good! In conclusion, there was no nine hour wait, or any wait at all!" Trump added.
The US President did not specify the source of this information, but earlier the British TV channel Sky News claimed that Whitcoff allegedly had to wait about eight hours for a meeting with Putin.
On Friday, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov reported that Putin had received Whitcoff late on Thursday evening, through whom the Russian leader passed on information to his American counterpart. The Kremlin representative did not disclose the topics of the conversation between the Russian President and Trump's special envoy. As White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reported on March 12, Whitcoff was heading to Moscow to discuss the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine.