Donald Trump allegedly urged Vladimir Putin not to escalate the war in Ukraine during their first direct phone call since the US election on Thursday.

The Republican has previously vowed to end the conflict within 24 hours when he gets into the White House in January, because he is unhappy with the scale of US military and financial support Washington has been offering to Kyiv.

Trump has never revealed how he would negotiate the end of the war though, sparking fears he would encourage Ukraine to cede occupied land to Putin.

And  The Washington Post reported on Sunday that Trump allegedly told the Russian president not to escalate the conflict and reminded Russia of the US’s sizeable military presence in Europe.

The president-elect is also said to have showed interest in follow-up conversations with Putin on the “resolution of Ukraine’s war soon”.

A former US official told the newspaper that Trump most likely does not want to start his next term in office with an escalation in the Ukraine war, “giving him incentive to want to keep the war from worsening”.

Neither Trump nor Putin has officially confirmed the report.

In a statement to the Washington outlet, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said: “President Trump won a historic election decisively and leaders from around the world know America will return to prominence on the world stage.

“That is why leaders have begun the process of developing stronger relationships with the 45th and 47th president because he represents global peace and stability.”

Trump also spoke to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday.

However, Ukraine has rejected claims that it was informed of the call in advance and did not object to it taking place.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi told Reuters: “Reports that the Ukrainian side was informed in advance of the alleged call are false. Subsequently, Ukraine could not have endorsed or opposed the call.”

When asked by broadcasters on the BBC on Monday about how feasible Trump’s plan to end the war is, UK defence secretary John Healey said: “We will have to wait and see what president Trump really proposes.

“It is less than a week since the election and more than two months until he takes office, but if reports of his call with Putin are right, Trump is absolutely right to warn Putin against escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.”

He later added: “This could be ended today if Putin withdrew following his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.”