US President Donald Trump has denied claims that his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, instructed Russian officials on how to influence him on a Ukraine peace proposal. He said Witkoff’s actions were “a standard thing”.

Bloomberg News published a transcript of an October 14 call. The report said Witkoff advised Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy aide, on how to present a peace plan to Trump.

What the Leaked Audio Shows

The recording reveals a discussion on how to end the war in Ukraine. Ushakov reportedly asked whether it would help if Putin and Trump held a conversation.

Witkoff replied that “my guy is ready to do it,” and then explained a strategy for arranging the call. He suggested that Ushakov should praise Trump’s accomplishments.

Witkoff reportedly said, “Just reiterate that you congratulate the president [Trump] on this achievement… that you respect that he is a man of peace and you’re just, you’re really glad to have seen it happen.”

Trump later dismissed concerns that the United States might have guided Russia on diplomatic tactics. He said the exchange reflected “a very standard form of negotiations”.

Envoy Defends His Remarks

Witkoff also told Ushakov that Russia had long wanted a peace agreement. He said: “I told the president that you - that the Russian Federation has always wanted a peace deal. That’s my belief. The issue is that we have two nations that are having a hard time coming to a compromise.”

The call ended with Witkoff mentioning a possible White House visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He also asked Ushakov to help arrange a Trump-Putin phone call “if possible”.

Russia Condemns the Leak

Russia reacted sharply on Wednesday. It called the leak an attempt to damage the ongoing peace negotiations and described it as a form of “hybrid warfare”.

Ushakov said he never intended those discussions to be public. “This is unacceptable,” Reuters quoted him as saying. He added that the leak was clearly meant to disrupt talks between Moscow and Washington.

In an interview with Kommersant, Ushakov said some parts of the talks took place on secure government channels “which are rarely intercepted and leaked unless one of the parties deliberately intends to do so.”