A leaked phone call revealed that one of Donald Trump’s top advisers coached Russian officials on how to appeal to the US president during negotiations on a Ukraine peace plan, according to a Bloomberg report. The call highlights behind-the-scenes efforts that have influenced Trump’s controversial approach to the conflict.
Coaching Russia for flattery
The Oct. 14 call between Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Yuri Ushakov, a top foreign adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, reportedly focused on brokering a direct call between Trump and Putin to discuss a peace plan.
Witkoff instructed Ushakov how to open the conversation with compliments: “I would make the call and just repeat that you congratulate the president on this achievement … that you respect that he’s a man of peace and you’re just, you’re really glad to see that,” Witkoff said.
Ushakov looked receptive and replied, “Hey Steve, I agree with you that he’s going to congratulate, say that Mr. Trump is a real man of peace and so and so. That he’s going to say that.”
Advising on peace plan strategy
Witkoff also shared his thoughts on what would be needed for a peace deal: “Now, I tell you, I know what it will take to get a peace deal: Donetsk and maybe a land swap somewhere… Instead of talking like that, let’s talk with hope, because I think we’re going to get a deal here,” he said.
He suggested modeling the negotiations on the 20-point Gaza peace plan he had previously helped broker:
“We put together the 20-point Trump plan, which was 20 points for peace, and I think maybe we’ll do the same with you.”
The timing of Zelensky’s call and meeting
The conversation took place just days before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the White House. Witkoff urged Ushakov to call Putin and Trump before that meeting: “I’ll go to that meeting because they want me there, but I think if it’s possible, we’ll have a call with your boss before that Friday meeting.
Trump, when asked about the tape, claimed he didn’t hear it, but downplayed the coaching: “Well, I didn’t hear it, no. But that’s a standard thing, you know, because they have to sell it to Ukraine. They have to sell Ukraine to Russia. That’s what the dealer does. You have to say, ‘Look, they want this, you have to convince them.’ And I would imagine he says the same to Ukraine, because each side has to give and take.
The impact on Trump’s 28-point peace plan
The call appears to foreshadow Witkoff’s role in shaping Trump’s controversial 28-point peace plan to end the nearly four-year conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The plan originally included provisions for Ukraine to relinquish the entire Donbas region, reduce its military by a third, and abandon its NATO ambitions.
A revised 19-point version of the plan removed Ukraine’s most contentious demand to cede territory in Donbass, but the report indicated that Russia was likely to reject the new ceasefire proposal.
