In a revealing development that sheds light on backchannel diplomacy, Steve Witkoff, the special envoy for former U.S. President Donald Trump, directly advised a senior Kremlin official on how to present a Ukraine peace proposal to Trump, according to a recorded phone call reviewed by Bloomberg News.
The Five-Minute Call That Shaped Diplomacy
The pivotal conversation occurred on October 14, 2025, lasting just over five minutes. Witkoff, fresh from his perceived success in brokering the Gaza peace agreement, spoke with Yuri Ushakov, Vladimir Putin's top foreign policy aide. During this brief exchange, Witkoff suggested that Russia and the U.S. collaborate on a Ukraine peace plan mirroring the Gaza framework.
He specifically advised Ushakov on how President Putin should approach Trump with the proposal. This guidance included strategic timing, recommending a Trump-Putin phone call precede Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's scheduled White House visit later that same week. Witkoff pointed to the recently signed Gaza agreement as a successful model to reference when presenting the Ukraine initiative.
Trump's Response and The "Dealmaker" Philosophy
When questioned about his envoy's actions, President Trump offered a telling response to reporters on Tuesday, November 26, 2025. While stating he hadn't personally reviewed the call transcript, he characterized the interaction as a "standard negotiation."
"He's got to sell this to Ukraine. He's going to sell Ukraine to Russia. That's what a dealmaker does," Trump explained, outlining his transactional approach to diplomacy. "You got to say, look, they want this, you got to convince them of this. I would imagine he's saying the same thing to Ukraine, because each party has to give and take."
This call provides the first direct evidence of Witkoff's negotiation tactics with Russia and appears to be the origin point of the 28-point peace proposal that surfaced publicly earlier in November. The United States has since been actively urging Ukraine to accept this plan as the foundation for a settlement.
The Evolution of the Peace Plan and Shifting Alliances
The diplomatic landscape surrounding this issue has been fluid. At the time of the Witkoff-Ushakov call, Trump was celebrating the Gaza hostage release and had recently addressed the Israeli Knesset. However, his stance towards Putin was reportedly cooling. As he prepared for his October 17 meeting with President Zelenskyy, Trump was simultaneously considering providing Ukraine with longer-range Tomahawk missiles, discussing new sanctions against Russia, and expressing growing frustration with the Russian leader.
Despite this, the peace process moved forward. President Putin himself stated this month that he believed the U.S. plan could serve as a basis for a settlement, confirming that Moscow had received a copy of the 28-point document, though detailed discussions had not yet begun.
In a significant escalation of these efforts, Trump announced on Tuesday that he was directing Witkoff to meet with Putin directly to work towards finalizing an agreement. On his Truth Social platform, the president noted that the "original 28-Point Peace Plan" had been refined with input from both sides and that only a few points of disagreement remained. The Kremlin has not provided an official comment on these latest developments.
