A leaked phone call has revealed President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff coaching a senior Kremlin official on how Russian President Vladimir Putin should approach Trump to gain favor before discussing a peace plan for Ukraine. The 5-minute conversation, which took place on October 14, 2025, was reported by Bloomberg on November 25, 2025.
During the call with Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s top foreign policy aide, Witkoff provided specific instructions on how the Russian leader should contact Trump. The envoy suggested Putin personally phone Trump ahead of a planned White House meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to congratulate him on the Gaza ceasefire, which Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner had helped broker.
Ushakov responded positively to the advice, agreeing that Putin would praise Trump as a “real peace man” during their conversation. Witkoff went further, outlining exactly how the discussion between the two leaders should unfold, suggesting that Putin present a peace plan in what he characterized as a positive light.
Witkoff then appeared to acknowledge that Ukraine would need to make substantial concessions to Russia in any potential deal. He mentioned Donetsk and suggested a land swap might be necessary to reach an agreement. Throughout the conversation, Witkoff expressed admiration for Putin, telling Ushakov he had “the deepest respect for President Putin.”
When discussing Zelenskyy’s upcoming White House visit, Witkoff downplayed his own role, saying he would be meeting the Ukrainian president only “because they want me there.” The envoy emphasized he believed Trump would give him significant latitude in negotiations, saying the president would provide him with “a lot of space and discretion to get to the deal.”
Following the phone call with Witkoff, a second leaked conversation revealed Ushakov speaking with Kirill Dmitriev, an economic adviser to Putin who heads the Russian Direct Investment Fund. The two Russian officials discussed drafting their own version of a peace plan to pass along to Witkoff, confident he would keep it as close to Russia’s version as possible. Dmitriev suggested passing the document along informally, acknowledging the Americans might not adopt Russia’s version exactly but believing it would remain similar.
Witkoff also met with Dmitriev in Miami alongside Kushner after the October call. The meeting raised questions about coordination between Trump’s team and Russian officials on the peace plan that would eventually emerge.
The initial 28-point peace plan that followed these conversations drew fierce criticism from lawmakers across party lines. Critics described it as a Russian wishlist that would require Ukraine to cede occupied territories, abandon NATO membership aspirations, and allow Russia to rejoin the G8. Secretary of State Marco Rubio subsequently revised the proposal to 19 points, which Ukraine has tentatively agreed to consider.
Trump defended Witkoff while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on November 25, 2025. “That’s a standard thing,” Trump said, adding he had not heard the audio himself. “He’s gotta sell this to Ukraine, he’s gonna sell Ukraine to Russia. That’s what a dealmaker does. I haven’t heard it but I heard it was standard negotiation.”
White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung told NewsNation the leak proved Witkoff talks to officials in both Russia and Ukraine nearly every day to achieve peace, which is exactly what Trump appointed him to do.
However, Representative Gregory Meeks, a ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, expressed concern about the relationship between Trump’s team and Moscow. Meeks said Trump and Witkoff are “in bed with the Russians,” calling the situation troubling and urging Americans to believe what they’re seeing about the administration’s dealings with the Kremlin.
The Kremlin responded to the leak with its own concerns. Ushakov claimed parts of the transcript were fake, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the disclosure was intended to undermine peace efforts. Peskov suggested many people in various countries, including the United States, want to stop the trend toward peace.
The controversy erupted as Trump’s planned meeting with Zelenskyy ended in a shouting match, according to reports. The Ukrainian president had hoped to secure long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles during the White House visit, but ultimately failed to obtain them.
Witkoff and Trump have been friends for over 40 years, and the president appointed the real estate developer as his special envoy to work on resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, a Yale Law School associate of Vice President JD Vance, has since taken a more prominent role in delivering the latest peace proposals to Russian officials.
The leaked conversations have intensified scrutiny of the Trump administration’s approach to negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine, raising questions about whether American officials are adequately representing Ukrainian interests in the peace process.
