Leaked recordings show Witkoff coached Kremlin advisers on how to approach Trump over Ukraine — Bloomberg
U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff suggested to Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov in October that Washington and Moscow work together on a peace agreement to end the war in Ukraine, according to Bloomberg. On November 25, the outlet published a detailed report based on a transcript of a phone call between Witkoff and Ushakov held on October 14 — and later released the full transcript. The outlet did not say how it obtained the recording.
During the conversation, which reportedly lasted just over five minutes, Witkoff laid out suggestions for Ushakov on how Russian President Vladimir Putin might approach the subject with U.S. President Donald Trump. Witkoff also told Ushakov that he has “the deepest respect” for Putin. He said he had told Trump that he believes Russia has always sought a peace agreement. Witkoff also said he understands a peace deal would require “Donetsk and maybe a land swap somewhere.”
At one point, Ushakov asked Witkoff whether it would be “useful” for Trump and Putin to speak by phone. Witkoff answered in the affirmative and offered several suggestions for how to start the conversation — including that Putin congratulate Trump on the Gaza peace deal, note that Russia supported it, and emphasize that he respects the U.S. president as a “man of peace.” Witkoff also noted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would soon be visiting the White House and suggested that Putin speak with Trump before that meeting.
Ushakov appears to have acted on some of Witkoff’s advice. After speaking with Putin on October 16, Trump announced: “President Putin congratulated me and the United States on the Great Accomplishment of Peace in the Middle East.” Ushakov himself later told reporters that Putin “opened the conversation by congratulating Donald Trump on his success in helping stabilize the situation in Gaza.”
After that call, Witkoff met in the United States with Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Kirill Dmitriev. (Dmitriev confirmed that he spent three days in Miami starting on October 24.) On October 29, Dmitriev and Ushakov spoke by phone and discussed how forcefully Moscow should press its demands in a prospective peace deal, according to another recording reviewed by Bloomberg.
In that conversation, Ushakov said Russia should demand “the maximum” and voiced concern that the United States might later “twist” what what agreed on and then declare a deal had been reached.
Dmitriev replied that Russia could share the document informally with the United States and expressed confidence that even if the Trump administration did not accept Moscow’s version in full, it would produce something very close to it.
Kirill Dmitriev dismissed Bloomberg’s publication of the recording of his call with Ushakov as a “fake.” Yuri Ushakov did not give a direct answer as to whether the transcript of his call with Witkoff was genuine. He said only that he had no idea how Bloomberg obtained the recordings. “Someone is leaking, someone is listening in — but it’s not us,” Ushakov said.
