President Donald Trump said he asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to help end the Russia-Ukraine war during a recent call the two leaders had.
The Kyiv Independent reported that Trump made his claim while speaking with reporters at the White House on Tuesday.
"He's not done very much on that," Trump said. "He's got a lot of … power, like we have a lot of power. I said, 'You ought to get it settled.' We did discuss it."
Xi and Trump spoke by phone on Jan. 17; the president did not mention Ukraine in his comments after the call, however.
Trump's remarks come one day after he was inaugurated as the nation's 47th president and coincide with a video call that Russian President Vladimir Putin held with Xi.
Putin reportedly proposed further development of their partnership and said he wanted to outline "new plans for the development of the Russian-Chinese comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation."
"I agree with you that cooperation between Moscow and Beijing is based on a broad commonality of national interests and a convergence of views on what relations between major powers should be," Putin told Xi. "We build our ties on the basis of friendship, mutual trust and support, equality, and mutual benefit. These connections are self-sufficient, independent of domestic political factors and the current global situation."
On Tuesday, Trump said he would likely impose new economic sanctions on Russia if Putin refuses to negotiate about ending the war in Ukraine.
"We're talking to [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy; we're going to be talking with President Putin very soon," Trump said. "We're going to look at it."
Although Trump campaigned on the promise that he could end the Ukraine conflict within 24 hours of his election, the timeline for winding down the war has changed considerably since his victory in November. The Independent reported that last month the then-president-elect admitted that the situation is "a tough one."
The United States and Ukraine have both previously called on China to pressure Russia to move toward de-escalation, including by withholding military aid and recalling North Korean troops.
China has denied accusations of supporting Russia's invasion of Ukraine but remains an important economic ally of Moscow while simultaneously positioning itself as a potential mediator of a peace agreement between the two sides.