Overview
- Bloomberg published a transcript of an Oct. 14 call in which U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff advised Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov on how to present a Ukraine peace plan to President Trump, saying it reviewed the recording without revealing its source.
- Ushakov called the publication unacceptable, denied Russia leaked any conversations, and suggested the calls could have been intercepted by others.
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was nothing alarming in the transcript and warned that moves to push out Witkoff would undercut fragile progress toward talks.
- Ushakov said a provisional agreement remains for Witkoff to travel to Moscow next week and indicated he hopes additional U.S. officials involved in the Ukraine portfolio will join.
- Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov framed the episode as hybrid information warfare, RDIF chief Kirill Dmitriev disputed reporting on a separate Oct. 29 call, and U.S. reactions ranged from Ric Grenell urging the leaker’s firing to President Trump calling the exchange standard negotiations.