US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, fresh from the triumph of the Gaza peace deal, held a phone call last month with a senior Kremlin official to suggest they work together on a similar plan for Ukraine — and that Vladimir Putin should raise it with Donald Trump.

In an Oct. 14 phone call that lasted a little over five minutes, Witkoff advised Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s top foreign policy aide, on how the Russian leader should broach the issue with Trump. His guidance included suggestions on setting up a Trump-Putin call before Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s White House visit later that week and using the Gaza agreement as a way in.

“We put a 20-point Trump plan together that was 20 points for peace and I’m thinking maybe we do the same thing with you,” Witkoff told Ushakov, according to a recording of the conversation reviewed and transcribed by Bloomberg.
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“Me to you, I know what it’s going to take to get a peace deal done,” Witkoff said. “Donetsk and maybe a land swap somewhere. But I’m saying instead of talking like that, let’s talk more hopefully because I think we’re going to get to a deal here.”

“The president will give me a lot of space and discretion to get to the deal,” he added. “So if we can create that opportunity that after this I talked to Yuri and we had a conversation I think that could lead to big stuff.”
“Ok,” Ushakov replied. “That sounds good.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-25/putin-advisers-discuss-plans-for-dealing-with-trump-transcript (paywalled)