Witkoff instructed Russia on how to present their peace plan to Trump
фото: Reuters
Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff gave Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov advice on how to properly present the Kremlin’s proposals for a possible settlement of the war in Ukraine to the American leader. Moreover, according to some indications, the peace plan itself could have been of Russian origin.
This is reported by Bloomberg.
According to the publication, on November 14, Witkoff had a telephone conversation with Ushakov, during which he actually advised the senior Russian official on how to most effectively convey his ideas to Trump.
Among the recommendations is to organize a conversation between Putin and Trump before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrives at the White House, as well as to use the agreements on Gaza as an additional argument.
“We have prepared a 20-point plan for Trump. I think we can do something similar for you,” said Witkoff.
Bloomberg notes that this conversation opened the curtain for the first time on the methods used by Witkoff to work with the Russian side and what exactly could form the basis of the final 28-point “peace package” regarding Ukraine.
During the dialogue, Witkoff emphasized his “respect for Putin” and even claimed that he convinced Trump that Moscow had always wanted peace.
He also mentioned Zelensky’s planned visit to Washington and suggested that Putin contact Trump on the eve of this meeting.
After Ushakov asked if such communication would be useful, Witkoff replied: “Yes, absolutely.”
Among the advice was this: Putin should congratulate Trump on the Gaza deal and emphasize that Russia supported his steps, as well as emphasize that he respects the American president as “a man who fights for peace.”
“It would make a great impression,” Witkoff emphasized.
He also suggested that Putin could mention the discussion between “Steve and Yuri” of a possible 20-point plan to end the war in Ukraine and declare Moscow’s readiness to move in that direction.
Judging by Ushakov’s reaction, some of these recommendations were received positively in the Kremlin. He assured that Putin would call Trump a “real peacemaker.”
After the Putin-Trump conversation, Witkoff met in Miami with Kirill Dmitriev, a Russian representative who, according to Axios, was there for three days, starting on October 24.
Another recording seen by Bloomberg shows that on October 29, Dmitriev and Ushakov spoke in Russian on the phone and discussed how aggressively Moscow should push its own demands in a potential peace plan.
Ushakov proposed demanding “the maximum” from the US, fearing that Washington might change Russian ideas and pass them off as a joint agreement, which would complicate negotiations.
Dmitriev, instead, advised informally handing the document over to the Americans and expressed confidence that even if some of the points were rejected, the US could accept a version that was as close as possible to the Russian one.
He also assured Ushakov that he would tell Witkoff exactly what they had been asked to do in the Kremlin.
Bloomberg notes that it was not possible to establish exactly what proposals Russia submitted to the United States and how much they influenced the final American 28-point plan.
Recall that earlier the full text of the 28-point peace plan that the United States is offering to Ukraine and Russia as the basis for a future agreement appeared in the public domain. The document, which Washington seeks to promote as soon as possible, was published online.
As reported, in the updated version of the American peace plan , Ukraine agreed to reduce the size of the Armed Forces to 800 thousand people.
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