The Kremlin on Wednesday (26 November) accused unknown actors of trying to sabotage ongoing peace efforts after a leaked phone call between senior US and Russian officials emerged in the media.
Yuri Ushakov, a senior foreign policy adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said the publication of the challenge was clearly intended to be an obstacle to progress.
“It is unlikely that this will be done to improve relations,” Ushakov said.
The transcript — released by Bloomberg News — details an Oct. 14 conversation in which U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff allegedly coached his Russian counterpart on ways to appeal to President Donald Trump in ongoing peace talks.
Ushakov dismissed the leak as a hostile act.
“Someone is leaking, some is listening, but we are not,” he said, later adding that “some of these leaks are fake” and that the publication of confidential diplomatic contacts was “unacceptable.”
No deadline for agreement
President Trump downplayed the controversy, insisting that negotiations continued despite the leak.
He said his peace proposal had been “tuned” and that he was no longer behind earlier pressure on Kiev to accept a deal by Thanksgiving.
“You know what the deadline is for me? When it’s over,” Trump said.
White House communications director Steven Cheung dismissed the criticism as overblown, writing on X that there was “nothing wrong” with what was said in the “supposed” transcript.
“It shows what a successful negotiator does to reach an agreement,” Cheung said.
Witkoff will be in Moscow next week while Army Secretary Dan Driscoll continues separate talks with Ukrainian officials.
Kiev and its allies say they are “largely satisfied” with the revisions made since last week, but key issues remain, particularly over territorial concessions.
Kyiv is confident, but Trump warns against premature optimism
Ukrainian officials expressed confidence on Tuesday that a deal could be completed by the end of the month and said they hoped to hold a direct Trump-Zelensky meeting soon.
But Trump appeared to reject that timeline, saying he would only meet the two leaders when a deal was in its final stages.
On the part of Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned against premature expectations.
“It’s too early to say,” he said when asked if Russia was closer to achieving peace with Ukraine.
Witkoff is expected in Moscow next week for further talks, with Trump signaling he will not rush to sign the deal but will keep pressure on both Kiev and Moscow.
Kremlin
