A senior Russian lawmaker told state television on Monday that the United States has informed Moscow of its approval of the appointment of a new Russian ambassador to Washington.

Grigory Karasin, chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the Federation Council, the upper house of Russia's parliament, said the new ambassador could be formally appointed in the coming weeks.

But Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry, told the state news agency TASS that "approval has not yet been received."

Neither Karasin nor Zakharova named the new ambassador. The last Russian ambassador to the United States was Anatoly Antonov, who left his post in October.

Kommersant reported in November that Russia would appoint Alexander Darchev, who currently heads the Foreign Ministry's North America department, as its new ambassador to Washington.

In a related context, US President-elect Donald Trump has instructed his aides to prepare for a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, days after his inauguration, scheduled for today, Monday, according to what was reported by the American CNN network.

CNN quoted informed sources as saying that the conversation will focus on holding a personal meeting between the two leaders in the coming months with the aim of trying to end the war in Ukraine.

She added that it is still unclear whether a date has been set for the conversation or not.

Last Tuesday, the US president-elect said he would meet the Russian president "very quickly" after his inauguration.

No date has been set for the meeting, which will be the first between the two countries' presidents since the start of Russia's war with Ukraine in February 2022.