Donald Trump described the telephone dialogue between the US special envoy and the Kremlin representative as standard practice.
US President Donald Trump gave his assessment of the “leaked” phone conversation reported by Bloomberg. This dialogue took place between US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Vladimir Putin’s assistant Yuri Ushakov. Witkoff provided advice on presenting “peace settlement” proposals to the US President. Commenting on the situation, Trump stated that such conversations are “standard practice,” explaining that Witkoff offers similar recommendations to both sides as “each side must make its contribution.”
The phone conversation took place in October and lasted a little over five minutes. The main topic of discussion was the organization of a phone conversation between Trump and Putin, which was to take place before Vladimir Zelensky’s visit to the White House that same week. Witkoff advised that Putin should congratulate Trump on achieving a peace settlement in Gaza, express support from Russia, and show respect to the US President as a “peacemaker.”
Earlier, Trump stated that the parties are close to concluding a peace agreement in the context of the war between Russia and Ukraine. On November 25, he instructed Witkoff to meet with Putin and Army Minister Deni Driscoll to meet with the Ukrainian side. The initial peace plan consisted of 28 points and was finalized, taking into account the proposals of both sides.
| Date of the conversation | October 2023 |
| Duration | More than 5 minutes |
| Participants | Steve Witkoff, Yuri Ushakov |
| Topic | Organization of a US-Russia phone conversation, preparation for Zelensky’s visit |
