EditWho framed Steve Witkoff? Moscow furious over leaked Trump-Russia peace talk
The episode underscores the high-wire act of Trump's "America First" diplomacy: bold strokes, blurred lines, and leaks that could unravel it all
Russia on Wednesday branded the leak of a sensitive phone call between Donald Trump’s Ukraine envoy Steve Witkoff and Vladimir Putin’s top foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov as “unacceptable” and a blatant act of hybrid warfare aimed at torpedoing fragile peace talks.
The disclosure, first published by Bloomberg News, reveals an unusually chummy exchange in which the American real estate mogul-turned-diplomat coached his Russian counterpart on buttering up Trump to advance a controversial peace blueprint – one already mired in whispers that it was ghostwritten in the Kremlin and mangled by a shoddy English translation.
The 14 October call, lasting just five minutes, captures Witkoff in full salesman mode, urging Yuri Ushakov to prime Putin for a direct pitch to Trump.
“Here’s what I think would be amazing,” Witkoff enthuses in the transcript, according to Bloomberg’s review of the recording. “Maybe he says to President Trump: you know, Steve and Yuri discussed a very similar 20-point plan to peace and that could be something that we think might move the needle a little bit, we’re open to those sorts of things.”
He floats the idea of Putin congratulating Trump on a recent Gaza ceasefire as an icebreaker – a nod to Trump’s self-styled dealmaker persona – before segueing into Ukraine.
“From that, it’s going to be a really good call,” Witkoff adds, pushing for a Trump-Putin hotline chat ahead of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s White House visit days later.
Ushakov, ever the loyalist, plays along smoothly. He assures Witkoff that Putin “will congratulate” Trump and hail him as “a real peace man” – a phrase dripping with flattery that underscores the personal rapport Trump craves. The exchange isn’t just tactical; it’s laced with mutual back-patting. Witkoff gushes, “I have the utmost respect for President Putin,” framing the duo’s collaboration as a high-stakes bromance to end Europe’s bloodiest war since 1945.
The leak – the second in days, following a disputed 29 October transcript involving Russian investment czar Kirill Dmitriev – has ignited a firestorm. Ushakov, speaking to Kommersant newspaper, fumed that the conversations were “not intended for publication” and smacked of deliberate sabotage.
“This is unacceptable,” he said, hinting at encrypted channels rarely breached “unless one of the parties deliberately intends to do so.”
He dismissed WhatsApp as a possible vector but vowed to confront Witkoff directly. Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov piled on, accusing European media of weaponizing the story in a “hybrid information war” to fray U.S.-Moscow ties just as Trump eyes a swift Ukraine resolution.
Russian daily Kommersant headlined its Ushakov interview “Who Set Up Steve Witkoff?” – a nod to conspiracy theories swirling in pro-Putin circles that Western intelligence, perhaps MI6 or the CIA, orchestrated the drop to embarrass the incoming administration.
Bloomberg, mum on its sourcing, reviewed the audio but offered no clues, leaving Reuters’ competitor in the crosshairs of Moscow’s ire. Dmitriev, meanwhile, outright called Bloomberg’s Dmitriev-Ushakov transcript “fake,” insisting it distorted a routine chat on economic ties.
This isn’t the first red flag over Trump’s peace push. The blueprint in question – a sprawling 28-point framework unveiled post-Trump’s August Alaska summit with Putin – has been dogged by controversy since day one. Critics, including Ukrainian officials and European diplomats, slammed it as a Russian wish list disguised as American diplomacy: demands for Kyiv to cede the entire Donbas to Moscow, slash its military by half, forswear NATO forever, and even reinstate Russia in the G8. Zelenskyy called it “capitulation dressed as compromise.”
Whispers in Brussels and Kyiv suggest the plan was hammered out in the Kremlin, with the English version a botched translation riddled with awkward phrasing – think “territorial realities” for annexed lands, “de-nazification” and “security guarantees” masking veto power over Ukraine’s defences. One leaked diplomatic cable, cited by EU sources, mocked it as “Putin’s script run through Google Translate.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio pushed back hard, insisting the U.S. “authored” it with input from all sides, but the optics stung: Witkoff, a Trump golf buddy with zero foreign policy chops, shuttling between Abu Dhabi and Geneva like a backroom fixer.
Trump, unfazed, tweeted Wednesday: “Fake news trying to stop PEACE! Steve’s doing GREAT – we’ll END this war FAST.”
The timing couldn’t be worse. With U.S.-Russia talks in Abu Dhabi wrapping amid fresh Kyiv strikes, the leak amplifies fears of a lopsided deal favouring Moscow. Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War warn it exposes Trump’s team as “too eager to please Putin,” risking NATO fractures.
Yet, for the Kremlin, it’s a propaganda win: frame the West as the spoiler, buy time on the battlefield where Russian gains – 20% of Ukraine held – tilt the scales.
As Witkoff preps another Moscow jaunt, the episode underscores the high-wire act of Trump’s “America First” diplomacy: bold strokes, blurred lines, and leaks that could unravel it all. In a war fueled by distrust, one bugged call might just be the spark.
With Reuters, Bloomberg, Kommersant, edited by g.g.
Caption: Founder & CEO of The Witkoff Group and U.S. Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff speaks during the America Business Forum inaugural U.S. edition, taking place at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, USA, 6 November 2025. EPA/CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH
Updated: November 26, 2025 - 16:53
