Report: Envoy coached Putin aide on peace plan

President Trump's chief interlocutor with the Russian government last month advised a senior aide to Vladimir Putin on how the Kremlin leader should go about pitching the U.S. president a peace plan aimed at bringing an end to Russia's war in Ukraine, according to a transcript of the call published by Bloomberg News on Tuesday.

- ASSOCIATED PRESS

U.S. ENVOY Steve Witkoff, with Russia's Kirill Dmitriev, left, also gave suggestions to advisor Yuri Ushakov.

Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, according to a transcript of the Oct. 14 call published by the news service, advised Putin's foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov that Putin should call Trump to congratulate him for the Gaza peace deal and say Russia had supported it and that he respects the president as a man of peace.

"From that, it's going to be a really good call," Witkoff said, according to the transcript.

When asked by Russian state media to comment on Bloomberg's report, Ushakov did not question the recordings' authenticity but said that they had not been leaked by Moscow. He also said that the calls probably had been leaked to "hinder" U.S. - Russia ties. "It's unlikely this is being done to improve relations," he said.

Ushakov also said that he spoke with Witkoff by phone "quite often" but refused to discuss the content of the recording. "The essence of these conversations is that they are confidential. I won't comment. No one should comment."

The Bloomberg report came as Trump on Tuesday said a proposal to end Russia's war in Ukraine has been "fine-tuned" and announced he's sending Witkoff to meet with Putin.

The White House did not dispute the veracity of the transcript, and Trump described Witkoff's reported approach to the Russians in the call as "standard" negotiating procedure.