Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) meets US President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on August 6. Photo / Getty Images
Steve Witkoff advised Russia on how to pitch a Ukraine peace plan to United States President Donald Trump, according to a leaked telephone call.
Witkoff, the US President’s special envoy, was one of the key figures behind a draft 28-point peace plan which has caused uproar in Kyiv and among Ukraine’s allies owing to its pro-Kremlin positions.
On October 14, Witkoff spoke to a top aide to President Vladimir Putin about how the Russian side should flatter Trump to win him over, according to Bloomberg.
Referring to the recently agreed Gaza peace deal, Witkoff told Yuri Ushakov: “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”.
At the time, Trump was being widely praised for his efforts to end the war in Gaza. He had secured the release of the final hostages held by Hamas, and the day before, had addressed the Israeli Knesset.
Witkoff, who spoke of his “deepest respect” for Putin during the call, advised Russian negotiators to flatter and “congratulate” the US President for his Gaza deal.
“Here’s what I would do. My recommendation,” Witkoff said, according to a transcript released by Bloomberg.
“I would make the call and just reiterate that you congratulate the President on this achievement, that 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,” he said, referring to the Gaza deal.
“I think that very point our leaders could discuss,” Ushakov said, adding that Putin would hail Trump as a “real peace man”.
Witkoff said he had told Trump, a long-time friend from their days in New York real estate, that “the Russian Federation has always wanted a peace deal”.
The envoy appeared to suggest to Ushakov that Ukraine would have to give up Donetsk, which Kyiv has warned would provide a “springboard” for future Russian attacks, in addition to “maybe a land swap somewhere”.
He also recommended that the Russian leader speak to the US President ahead of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to the White House that Friday.
Trump spoke to Putin for two-and-a-half hours the day before the Ukrainian leader’s visit, during which he claimed the Russian President had congratulated him on the Gaza peace deal in a “very productive call”.
He also announced plans to meet Putin face-to-face in Budapest, although the summit has not yet materialised.
The call appears to have been important in restoring good relations between the US and Russian leaders. The day Witkoff spoke to Ushakov, Trump, who has long referred to his “great relationship” with Putin, appeared to be souring on the Russian leader.
“I don’t know why he continues with this war,” Trump complained. “He just doesn’t want to end that war. And I think it’s making him look very bad.”
Before the call with Putin, he had suggested supplying Ukraine with Tomahawks, long-range cruise missiles that in theory would allow Kyiv to strike Moscow.
However, he noted the Russian leader “didn’t like” the idea when he raised it in their conversation, and when he met Zelenskyy the following day, refused the Ukrainian leader’s request for the weapons.
Trump told reporters today that Witkoff’s behaviour was “a standard thing”.
“He’s got to sell this to Ukraine, he’s got to sell Ukraine to Russia,” the US President said. “That’s what a dealmaker does.”
He added: “I haven’t heard it but I heard it was standard negotiation”.
A second transcript published by Bloomberg appears to reveal a conversation between Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev, a Kremlin insider, about negotiations with the US.
Ushakov said they should ask for “the maximum”, while Dmitriev said that even if the US did not accept all of their demands, they would be “as close to it as possible”.
Dmitriev, who is widely suspected of leaking the 28-point peace plan to the media, has called the transcript a “fake”.
Trump said the original plan had been “fine-tuned” following input from Moscow and Kyiv, and that there were a “few remaining points of disagreement” following negotiations that have whittled it down to 19 points.
He said he would send Witkoff to meet Putin in Moscow to iron out the final stages of the peace deal.
Proposals in the original 28-point plan included banning Ukraine from joining Nato, dramatically cutting the size of its military, and handing over the Donbas region to Russia. Critics called it a “wishlist” for Putin.
It was reportedly drawn up by Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, with Dmitriev following days of negotiations in Miami without input from the Ukrainians.