Kremlin-Scripted 'Peace Plan' Push: Trump Calls Witkoff’s Role 'Standard Negotiation'

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, discussed how to pass Moscow’s proposed “peace plan” to US President Donald Trump’s circle in a way that would allow Washington to present the ideas as its own. Bloomberg, which obtained a recording of their 29 October conversation, reported that the two officials focused on using Steve Witkoff, a long-time Trump associate and the US president’s special envoy, as the intermediary.

During their discussion, Dmitriev suggested that the document be delivered to Witkoff in an informal manner so that the American side could reframe it as a US-crafted initiative. Dmitriev stressed that he hoped the final version would remain as close as possible to the original Russian wording. “I think we’ll just make this paper from our position, and I’ll informally pass it along, making it clear that it’s all informal. And let them do like their own. But I don’t think they’ll take exactly our version, but at least it’ll be as close to it as possible,” he said.

Ushakov, however, raised concerns about the risks such an approach carried. He worried that Witkoff might alter parts of the plan and later claim that the changes had been coordinated with Moscow, potentially distorting Russia’s demands. “Well, that’s exactly the point. They might not take and say that it was agreed with us. That’s what I’m afraid of… They might twist it later, that’s all. There is that risk,” Ushakov warned.

Dmitriev attempted to reassure him, saying he would personally ask Witkoff to preserve the wording “word for word” and ensure the entire process was handled carefully. He also noted that Ushakov would have an opportunity to discuss the text directly with Witkoff afterward. According to Bloomberg’s reporting, once the document reached the US side, officials there apparently did not attempt a proper translation and instead relied on an automatic translator.

Earlier, The Guardian carried out a linguistic examination of the so-called “peace plan” and identified heavy use of Russian-style phrasing and passive constructions, rarely found in native English documents of this type. The analysis reinforced suspicions that the supposed “Trump plan” originated in Moscow and was rendered literally into English. US senators have also indicated that Secretary of State Marco Rubio privately referred to the proposal as a Russian document, not a US-developed initiative. Rubio maintains that the plan was shaped by the United States but includes “input from the Russian side.”

Following the publication of the Bloomberg transcript, President Trump addressed the issue while speaking to journalists aboard Air Force One. He dismissed the significance of the leaked call between Witkoff and Putin’s aides, characterising the envoy’s conduct as routine. “That’s a standard thing, you know, because he has got to sell this to Ukraine. He’s got to sell Ukraine to Russia. That’s what a dealmaker does,” Trump said. He added that negotiation always involves applying pressure to both sides and insisted he had not listened to the recording himself but considered the approach normal. “That’s a very standard form of negotiation. I haven’t heard it, but I heard it was standard negotiation. And I would imagine he’s saying the same thing to Ukraine, because each party has to give and take.”

In a separate remark during the same press gaggle, Trump argued that Russia’s main concession in any settlement would be halting its military campaign. “They are making concessions. Their big concession is they stop fighting, and they don’t take any more land,” he said. When asked about potential territorial compromises by Ukraine, Trump responded that Kyiv was currently engaged in talks aimed at ending the war. He suggested that parts of the front line were shifting and claimed that some areas might end up under Russian control in the coming months, raising the question of whether Ukraine should continue to fight at high cost or attempt to reach an agreement sooner. “They’re negotiating. They’re trying to get it done,” he emphasised.

The United States and Ukraine have recently outlined a new 19-point framework during talks in Geneva, though the most politically sensitive issues have been left for the two presidents to resolve. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Washington and Kyiv had made “tremendous progress” toward a breakthrough in negotiations but noted that several “delicate, but not insurmountable” matters remain unresolved.