Trump Stands by Witkoff as Leak Raises Questions Over Envoy’s Russia Contacts

Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1429 EAT on Wednesday 26 November 2025

US President Donald Trump moved to defend special envoy Steve Witkoff on Wednesday, dismissing concerns raised by a leaked recording that appears to show Witkoff coaching a Russian official on how to win the president’s favour.

Trump said he had not listened to the recording but argued that Witkoff was doing “the standard thing” — acting as “a dealmaker” promoting the administration’s peace initiative to both sides of the conflict.

The leak, reportedly from a call last month, surfaced just days after the US unveiled a 28-point draft peace proposal that closely tracked with several of Moscow’s demands in its war on Ukraine.

Witkoff has made multiple trips to Moscow this year and is set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin again next week. He has yet to visit Kyiv.

Witkoff has not travelled to Kyiv in his role as special envoy, even as other senior US officials have made the trip. US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll visited the Ukrainian capital this week, and Trump has said he intends to hold further talks with Ukrainian representatives.

Diplomatic efforts have continued amid criticism from Ukrainian and European leaders that the initial draft peace plan was overly accommodating to Russia. One early proposal included transferring Ukrainian-controlled territory in the east to Russian authority.

US officials say the plan has since been revised to more closely reflect Ukraine’s interests and the views of European partners. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has indicated he is prepared to meet Trump to discuss several remaining “sensitive points.”

According to a leaked audio recording obtained by Bloomberg and shared in transcript form, US special envoy Steve Witkoff appeared to advise Yuri Ushakov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy aide, on how to win favour with Donald Trump. BBC News, which reported the details, has not independently verified the purported 14 October call.

Trump told reporters the exchange amounted to a “very standard form of negotiations.”

During the reported conversation, Witkoff and Ushakov discuss potential steps to end the war, with Ushakov asking whether a direct conversation between their respective leaders would be helpful. Witkoff is quoted as replying that it would, adding that “my guy is ready to do it,” before outlining what he believed would be an effective approach.

“Just reiterate that you congratulate the president [Trump] on this achievement… that you respect that he is a man of peace and you’re just, you’re really glad to have seen it happen,” Witkoff is quoted as saying. “I think from that it’s going to be a really good call.”

Witkoff also reportedly told Ushakov that he had informed Trump the Russian Federation “has always wanted a peace deal,” adding: “The issue is that we have two nations that are having a hard time coming to a compromise.”

At another point, Witkoff suggests drafting “a 20-point peace proposal, just like we did in Gaza.”

The call reportedly concluded with Witkoff noting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was due to visit the White House, and suggesting that, “if possible,” Putin and Trump should speak beforehand.

What followed, BBC News reports, was a two-and-a-half-hour call between Trump and Putin, the existence of which emerged as Zelensky was en route to Washington last month.

Prior to that call, Trump had signalled growing frustration with Putin and had floated the possibility of supplying Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles. But by the time Zelensky arrived at the White House, the tone had shifted. Trump said providing Tomahawks could escalate the conflict and expressed the view that Putin “wants to end the war.”

Asked about the leaked call, Ushakov told Russian state media that the leak was intended “to hinder, probably,” rather than improve relations. He confirmed that Witkoff is expected to visit Moscow next week under a “preliminary agreement.”

It remains unclear who leaked the recording. Bloomberg also published a transcript of another reported call between Ushakov and Putin envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who had spent several days with Witkoff in Miami in late October, weeks before the 28-point draft peace plan emerged.

According to that transcript, Dmitriev told Ushakov: “We’ll just make this paper from our position, and I’ll informally pass it along, making it clear that it’s all informal. And let them do like their own.”

Reacting to the report, Dmitriev said he was angered, claiming the story was the product of a “well-funded, well-organised malicious media machine built to spread fake narratives, smear opponents and keep people confused.”

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