Kremlin Says Release of Trump-Putin Calls Needs Mutual Consent

(Bloomberg) -- The Kremlin said Russia would have to give consent before transcripts of presidential phone calls between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin could be published, after Democrats indicated that they would seek the records as part of an impeachment inquiry.

“It’s possible only by mutual agreement of the parties,” Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on a conference call Monday. “In general, diplomatic practice doesn’t provide for such publications. If there are any signals from the Americans, then we’ll discuss it.”

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that Congress wants access to the records of calls with Putin following controversy over the White House’s release of details of Trump’s phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that triggered an impeachment investigation. The Kremlin said last week that it hoped the U.S. wouldn’t release transcripts of Trump’s calls with Putin.

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.