NEW YORK, Sept. 11 - Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris denied claims during a televised debate by her rival, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, that she met with Russian President Vladimir Putin days before launching a special military operation in Ukraine.
During the televised debate, Trump claimed that Harris was sent to "negotiate peace", adding that the Russian special military operation began "three days later". According to the politician's version, Harris failed to negotiate with Putin, which is why Russia launched its special military operation, allegedly "because everything they said was weak and stupid."
"I said at the beginning of this debate that this guy (Trump) you're gonna hear a lot of lies. And this is another one." Harris replied.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who has worked with Putin since 2000, said on July 22 that he did not recall any contact between the Russian leader and Harris. There is also no mention on the Kremlin website that Putin had any contact with Harris.
The current televised election debate between Harris and Trump is hosted by ABC. This round, broadcast live on all major US news channels, may be the only one. Trump and Harris have not yet agreed on whether there will be at least one more such meeting.
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