Trump envoy Witkoff coached Russian official on how to praise US president, leaked call reveals

Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff advised a senior Russian official on how to praise the president in order to secure a peace deal in Ukraine, according to a leaked transcript.

Mr Witkoff told Vladimir Putin’s senior aide Yuri Ushakov to ensure the Russian leader congratulated the US president following the announcement of his Gaza deal, insisting that the praise would ensure their discussion would be “a really good call”.

A transcript of the recorded phone call from October was released by Bloomberg News on Tuesday. It emerged as Mr Witkoff prepares to meet with Putin next week to discuss a revised peace plan for Ukraine.

Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov dismissed talk of a peace deal being close as premature, adding: “There can be no question of any concessions, or any surrender of our approaches to those key points.”

After details of Mr Witkoff’s call were leaked, the White House disputed the conversation, and Mr Trump defended his envoy when asked about it by reporters.

open image in gallery

“He’s got to sell this to Ukraine. He’s got to sell Ukraine to Russia,” the president said on Air Force One on Tuesday. “That’s what a dealmaker does.”

The discussion took place on 14 October, a day after Mr Trump travelled to Egypt to celebrate a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

“I would make the call and just reiterate that you congratulate the president on this achievement, that you supported it, you supported it, that you respect that he is a man of peace and you’re just, you’re really glad to have seen it happen,” Mr Witkoff said. “So I would say that. I think from that it’s going to be a really good call.”

The recording also appears to shed light on the origins of Mr Trump’s much-criticised 28-point peace plan for Ukraine.

“I’m even thinking that maybe we set out like a 20-point peace proposal, just like we did in Gaza,” Mr Witkoff said. “We put a 20-point Trump plan together that was 20 points for peace and I’m thinking maybe we do the same thing with you.”

open image in gallery

“Here’s what I think would be amazing,” Mr Witkoff continued. “Maybe he says to President Trump: you know, Steve and Yuri discussed a very similar 20-point plan to peace and that could be something that we think might move the needle a little bit.”

Mr Witkoff appeared to show that the US supported the surrender of Ukraine’s Donetsk region to Russia.

“I know what it’s going to take to get a peace deal done: Donetsk and maybe a land swap somewhere,” he said. However, he insisted that the Russians be optimistic.

“But I’m saying instead of talking like that, let’s talk more hopefully because I think we’re going to get to a deal here. And I think Yuri, the president will give me a lot of space and discretion to get to the deal.”

open image in gallery

During the call, Mr Ushakov agreed that Putin “will congratulate” and will say “Mr Trump is a real peace man”.

On 29 October, Mr Ushakov spoke by phone with Kirill Dmitriev – a close adviser to Putin on Ukraine – and debated how strongly Moscow should push for its demands in a prospective peace proposal, according to another recording reviewed by Bloomberg.

“I’ll informally pass it along, making it clear that it’s all informal. And let them do like their own,” Mr Dmitriev told Mr Ushakov in the back and forth. “But, I don’t think they’ll take exactly our version, but at least it’ll be as close to it as possible.”

Mr Ushakov refused to comment on the “confidential” discussions after the transcript was released.

Don Bacon, the Republican representative for Nebraska, called for Mr Witkoff to be sacked in a statement on social media: “He cannot be trusted to lead these negotiations. Would a Russian paid agent do less than he? He should be fired.”

The call has been released at a critical juncture in the peace process. On Tuesday, Ukraine said it supported “in essence” the details of a revised peace plan, with Mr Trump insisting they were “very close” to a deal.

As Mr Witkoff travels to Moscow, Mr Trump’s army secretary Daniel Driscoll is due to hold talks with the Ukrainians.