Topline
Steve Witkoff, the Trump administration’s special envoy for peace missions, advised his Russian aide to flatter President Donald Trump before an October phone call between the U.S. president and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Bloomberg reported, revealing more details on how a contentious plan was put together.
Key Facts
Witkoff spoke to Yuri Ushakov, a top Putin aide, in a short phone call lasting only about five minutes on Oct. 14, according to a transcript published by Bloomberg on Tuesday.
Witkoff advised Ushakov to tell Putin to congratulate Trump on finalizing a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, adding that he should say “you respect that he is a man of peace and you’re just, you’re really glad to have seen it happen.”
“I agree with you that he will congratulate, he will say that Mr. Trump is a real peace man and so and so,” Ushakov said.
Witkoff said he knew a peace deal would likely include Russian de facto control of Donetsk and “maybe a land swap somewhere,” but advised that Putin should “talk more hopefully.”
Trump later spoke with Putin on Oct. 16, but canceled a planned meeting between the two leaders in Budapest days later.
The White House did not immediately return a request for comment from Forbes.
What To Watch For
In a message on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump directed Witkoff to meet with Putin in Moscow to help finalize details of a peace plan to end the war in Ukraine. The president said the peace deal has since been “fine-tuned” since it was first introduced, and that there were only a “few remaining points of disagreement.” Trump said he would meet with Putin and Zelenskyy when the deal was finalized.
