President Trump has spoken to President Putin to urge him not to escalate the war in Ukraine

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump called Russian President Vladimir Putin two days after his election victory and urged him not to escalate the war with Ukraine, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Washington Post reported Sunday that Trump and Putin spoke on the phone on Sunday, during which the two discussed the goal of peace in Europe.

The report quoted several unnamed people familiar with the matter as saying that Trump reminded Putin of the large U.S. military presence in Europe and expressed hope for follow-up talks with Putin to "resolve the war in Ukraine as soon as possible."

AFP sought comment from Trump's representatives but did not immediately respond.

During his campaign, Trump promised to resolve the Ukraine crisis before Inauguration Day. Trump's election is seen as having the potential to upend the nearly three-year-old Russia-Ukraine war, as he has insisted it must end quickly and criticized the Biden administration for providing billions of dollars in military support to Kiev.

Russian state media recently welcomed Trump's election, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying: "This is a positive signal... At least he's talking about peace, not confrontation."

Putin on Nov. 7 praised Trump, who narrowly escaped assassination in July, as "courageous" and said he was "ready" for dialogue with him.