US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff held a phone call in October with Putin's top foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov, during which he suggested how the Russian leader should present peace proposals to Donald Trump, reports Bloomberg, which obtained a recording of the conversation.
The five-minute call took place on 14 October, just after Trump's success with the Gaza peace deal and days before Volodymyr Zelenskyy's scheduled White House visit.
During the conversation, Witkoff told his Russian counterpart that he had deep respect for Putin and that he had told Trump it was his belief that Russia has always wanted a peace deal, according to Bloomberg.
The US envoy mentioned Zelenskyy's upcoming visit and suggested Putin speak with Trump beforehand. "Zelenskyy is coming to the White House on Friday. I will go to that because they want me there, but I think if possible we have the call with your boss before that Friday meeting," Witkoff said.
When Ushakov asked whether it would be useful for Putin to call Trump, Witkoff confirmed it would be. He also recommended that Putin congratulate Trump for the Gaza peace deal, say that Russia had supported it and that he respects the president as a man of peace. "From that, it's going to be a really good call," Witkoff said.
Trump and Putin held their call two days later, at Russia's request. After the two-and-a-half-hour conversation, Trump announced plans to meet with the Russian leader in Budapest and mentioned that Putin had congratulated him on the Gaza deal.
During the 14 October call, Witkoff discussed potential terms for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. "Me to you, I know what it's going to take to get a peace deal done. Donetsk and maybe a land swap somewhere," he told Ushakov.
"The president will give me a lot of space and discretion to get to the deal," Witkoff added.
Witkoff also told 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," according to the recording.
The conversation offers insight into what appears to be the genesis of the 28-point peace proposal that emerged earlier this month, which the US has pushed Ukraine to accept as the basis of a deal, Bloomberg notes.
Following the Trump-Putin call, Witkoff met with Kirill Dmitriev, another senior Kremlin adviser, in Miami. Dmitriev told Axios he spent three days in Miami from October 24.
On 29 October, Dmitriev and Ushakov spoke by phone in Russian and debated how strongly Moscow should push for its demands in any peace proposal, according to another recording reviewed by Bloomberg.
Ushakov argued for asking for "the maximum" in their submissions to the White House. Dmitriev suggested sharing a paper informally and said he was confident that even if the US didn't completely take Russia's version they would at least do something very close to it.
Under the terms first proposed by the US earlier this month, Ukraine would have to withdraw troops from parts of the eastern Donetsk Oblast that Russia has failed to capture through military force. The area would become a neutral demilitarized buffer zone internationally recognized as Russian, reports Bloomberg.
Trump said Tuesday he was directing Witkoff to meet with Putin, in the hopes of finalizing a peace plan.
White House communications director Steven Cheung responded to Bloomberg's report: "This story proves one thing: Special Envoy Witkoff talks to officials in both Russia and Ukraine nearly every day to achieve peace, which is exactly what President Trump appointed him to do."
