A transcript showing that U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff advised a top Kremlin aide on the best way for Russian leader Vladimir Putin to approach President Donald Trump about a Ukraine peace plan has sparked criticism and raised questions about the neutrality of the U.S. proposal. The transcript of the Oct. 14 conversation was published by Bloomberg as Ukraine reportedly prepares to accept the peace deal.
In a five-minute conversation with Putin adviser Yuri Ushakov, Witkoff suggested the Russian leader congratulate Trump for the ceasefire in Gaza, frame him as “a man of peace” and nod to a “20-point plan” for Ukraine. Those steps, Witkoff said, would set up “a really good call.”
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Trump later described the approach as “standard” dealmaking.
But Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican who has criticized Trump’s Ukraine posture, called for Witkoff’s firing.
“It is clear that Witkoff fully favors the Russians,” Bacon wrote on X. “He cannot be trusted to lead these negotiations. Would a Russian paid agent do less than he?”
What the leaked call suggests about the plan’s origins
Bloomberg reports that the call occurred days before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the White House and shortly before a lengthy conversation between Trump and Putin. The outlet also detailed subsequent coordination, including a meeting in Miami between Witkoff and Kremlin adviser Kirill Dmitriev, followed by internal Russian discussions on negotiation strategy.
The White House did not dispute the transcript, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio has insisted the proposal was written by the United States with input from both sides.
What the draft would ask of Ukraine
The plan would require Kyiv to accept significant concessions. According to Bloomberg and The Associated Press, those include Ukraine withdrawing from the remaining parts of Donetsk and Luhansk into a neutral strip that outside powers would treat as Russian territory, while granting Russia de facto control over the broader Donbas region.
The deal would also freeze most current front lines in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, bar Ukraine from joining NATO and restrict its armed forces. The New York Times reports that the plan’s proposed limits on Ukraine’s military are “more generous” than Moscow’s 2022 demands.
Additionally, the proposal calls for using frozen Russian assets to fund reconstruction. However, following objections from European allies, Washington has reportedly moved the most sensitive security issues, including deploying security forces from NATO, to a separate negotiating track.
How Moscow and Washington are positioning
Putin has said the proposal could be a basis for talks but would require substantive discussion. Ushakov called many positions acceptable, “but not all,” the Times reported. Analysts told The Times that battlefield trends give the Kremlin little incentive to compromise.
Ukraine is under resource strain, ceding ground and facing fraying patience in Washington. Moscow may calculate that diplomacy either delivers major concessions now or accelerates a U.S. pullback that speeds up a Ukrainian collapse if talks stall.
Reaction from Americans working in Ukraine
U.S. veterans and volunteers embedded with Ukraine’s defense effort condemned the plan as a “betrayal,” saying it tracks “Russia’s talking points almost to the letter,” The Guardian reported. Several argued Zelenskyy cannot accept a deal trading territory and long-term sovereignty constraints for a cease-fire.
Bacon, similarly, denounced what he called a “surrender plan.”
Is a deal likely?
Even after U.S. tweaks, The Times reported that Putin appears to see little risk in waiting: holding out could bring larger concessions later. The Kremlin also sees potential upside in deepening ties with Trump without sacrificing core war aims.
The result, analysts told The Times, could be another “merry-go-round” of high-profile diplomacy ending where it began, with the war grinding on, a dynamic that critics warn ultimately plays to Putin’s hand.
