 "'Standard thing to do': Trump backs Witkoff after audio leak shows envoy coaching Russia")
US President Donald Trump has rejected claims that his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, “coached” the Russian side on how to appeal to the president on the peace plan, saying that what Witkoff did was a “standard thing”.
The transcript, published by Bloomberg News, covers an October 14 conversation in which Trump envoy Witkoff reportedly advised Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov on how to present a Ukraine peace plan to Trump.
What’s in the leaked audio?
During the leaked exchange, the two men allegedly discussed ways to bring the war to a close, with Ushakov asking whether it might help to arrange a conversation between their leaders, Putin and Trump.
Witkoff is quoted as responding that “my guy is ready to do it,” before outlining a possible approach for setting up the call.
“Just reiterate that you congratulate the president [Trump] on this achievement… that you respect that he is a man of peace and you’re just, you’re really glad to have seen it happen,” Witkoff was reportedly heard saying.
Trump has brushed off concerns about the US advising the Russians on how to conduct business by saying that it represented “a very standard form of negotiations”.
“I told the president that you - that the Russian Federation has always wanted a peace deal. That’s my belief. The issue is that we have two nations that are having a hard time coming to a compromise,” Witkoff further told Ushakov.
The call ends with the envoy telling Ushakov about a possible visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the White House and asking him to arrange a phone call between Trump and Putin “if possible”.
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View AllRussia condemns leaked audio
Russia on Wednesday denounced the leak of a recording of a phone call between the top advisers, calling it an unacceptable attempt to undermine Ukraine peace negotiations and labelling it “hybrid warfare.”
Ushakov said that his conversations with Witkoff were not meant for public release and should not have been leaked.
“This is unacceptable,” Reuters quoted Ushakov as telling Russian media.
He said the leak was clearly aimed at hindering discussions between Russia and the United States.
In an interview with Kommersant newspaper, Ushakov said that some of his discussions were conducted through encrypted government channels, “which are rarely intercepted and leaked unless one of the parties deliberately intends to do so.”
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