Chinese leader Xi Jinping has not spoken to US President Donald Trump on the phone recently, Beijing said Monday, reiterating that no talks are taking place between the two countries to resolve their tariff war, CNN reported.

The statement from a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson is an outright rejection of Trump’s claim in an interview with Time magazine last week that Xi had called him, as the world’s two largest economies remain locked in a dispute over sky-high trade levies.

“As far as I know, there has been no recent phone call between the two heads of state,” Guo Jiakun told a regular news conference. “I want to reiterate that China and the United States are not engaged in consultations or negotiations on the tariff issue.”

China has maintained its tough public stance on the trade war even as Trump softened his tonelast week, saying that astronomical US tariffs on Chinese goods will “come down substantially” and promising to be “very nice” at the negotiating table as he attempts to get Xi to initiate talks, according to CNN.

“He’s called. And I don’t think that’s a sign of weakness on his behalf,” Trump said, referring to Xi, in the Time interview published on Friday.