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"During the call, which Trump took from his resort in Florida, he advised the Russian president not to escalate the war in Ukraine and reminded him of Washington's sizable military presence in Europe, said a person familiar with the call, who, like others interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.Except on Monday, Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, denied it ever happened.
The two men discussed the goal of peace on the European continent and Trump expressed an interest in follow-up conversations to discuss 'the resolution of Ukraine's war soon,' one of the people said."
"Peskov called the story 'completely untrue' ... 'This is the most obvious example of the quality of the information that is now published, sometimes even in fairly respected publications. This is completely untrue. This is pure fiction, this is simply false information,' he told the Russian news agency Interfax."
The Russian stock market rallied on Wednesday morning amid reports of Donald Trump's likely victory in the US presidential election.Not left out of the rally: Tesla stock also soars in post-election rally:
Shares in all major Russian companies have been on the rise since preliminary results of the US election started to appear. Stock in state energy giant Gazprom grew by 5% in morning trading, while Lukoil shares jumped by 2.8%. Shares in oil major Rosneft were up by 3%, while Tatneft saw a 4.6% increase. Shares in mining giant Norilsk Nickel rose by 3.6%, while aluminum major Rusal saw its stock jump by 3.4%. The country's largest lender, Sber, saw a gain of 3.6%. Diamond major Alrosa stock surged by 5.3%, while Russia's national airline, Aeroflot, saw its stock spike by 5.9%.
The country's top tech player Yandex, often referred to as 'Russia's Google', saw its stock rise by 2.8%. Major retailers MVideo and Ozon also saw shares surge by over 6%.
The ruble-denominated Moscow Exchange (MOEX) index was up 3.4% as of 09:00 GMT, while the dollar-denominated RTS index rose by 3.3%.
Analysts briefed by RBK said the markets had rallied amid investors' hopes that a victory for Trump would be a positive development for Russia, as he has repeatedly pledged to end to the Ukraine conflict and de-escalate geopolitical tensions.
Mikhail Zeltser, an expert at BCS World of Investments, predicted:"For domestic market participants, the possible change of power in the US is associated with timid hopes for a change in rhetoric and approaches."Aleksey Antonov, head of Investment Consulting at Alor Broker, noted:"It is believed that Donald Trump's victory in [the presidential election] is the lesser evil for Russia, and in such a scenario, our stock market could grow significantly."Some analysts said they expect Trump's likely victory to boost growth in stock prices of companies whose business suffered the most as a result of Ukraine-related Western sanctions on Russia, such as Gazprom, Aeroflot, and some exporters.
Other experts warned that Trump's apparent victory may pose new risks for Russia amid its policy of abandoning the US dollar in trade, which the Republican has criticized. Some also fear Trump's protectionist position may lead the US towards new trade wars, including against one of Russia's major international partners, China.
Tesla stock has extended its post-election rally, shooting up almost 8% on Monday after surging nearly 30% last week following Republican Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election.Musk gains billions...
Tesla's post-election surge also saw it topping $1 trillion in market value for the first time in two years. The latest gains make Tesla worth more than the next 15 biggest carmakers combined, according to Forbes. Musk's personal wealth has also rocketed past $300 billion since Trump's win.
Musk has long been warning that the US is spiraling towards bankruptcy, urging "a radical reduction of government expenditures" and asserting that spending has been stoking inflation.
According to the Financial Times, any role in advising Trump will be structured to allow him to keep control of his companies Tesla, X, SpaceX, xAI and Neuralink. He aims to "exert power by installing longtime deputies, engineering experts, financial backers and ideological partners at government agencies," the Times wrote.
Tesla, which dominates sales of EVs in the US with a market share of 48.9%, is expected to make sharp gains under a Trump administration, given the Republican's plans for extensive tariffs on imports of Chinese cars.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors, said:"Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched. This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players."Amazon owner Jeff Bezos saw his net worth surge $7 billion to $223.5 billion, maintaining his position as the world's second-wealthiest person behind Musk.
Crypto magnates also made out well. The net worth of Brian Armstrong, co-founder and CEO of crypto exchange Coinbase, soared by $2.6 to $11 billion, according to Bloomberg, while Binance crypto exchange founder Changpeng Zhao added $12.1 billion following the election, boosting his fortune to $52.7 billion.
"The charges announced today expose Iran's continued brazen attempts to target US citizens, including President-elect Donald Trump, other government leaders and dissidents who criticize the regime in Tehran."Shakeri, 51, immigrated to the US as a child but was deported in 2008 after serving 14 years in prison on a robbery conviction. The DOJ alleges he is an asset of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who used "a network of criminal associates he met in prison" to spy on targets and plot their deaths.
The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Esmaeil Baghaei, categorically rejected the accusations, calling them 'completely baseless'."They hired a street criminal from Afghanistan to plan and carry out the attack. They also hired two random Americans. The US government always portrays their enemies as both evil and retarded, which gives them the ability to claim anything at all. The FBI somehow interviewed this guy, even though he's not even in America."Such claims at this juncture [are] a malicious conspiracy orchestrated by Zionist and anti-Iranian circles, aimed at further complicating the issues between the US and Iran."Baghaei also recalled that Iran had denied similar "false" allegations in the past. He was apparently referring to an indictment by the US Department of Justice from August in which a Pakistani national was accused of being sent to the US by Iran to carry out murders. One of the planned attacks was allegedly aimed at Trump.
Comment: Trump had more than a few things to say about Milley: