By Ephraim Agbo
A five-minute phone call can rewrite a geopolitical narrative. On October 14th, a conversation between U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and senior Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov did exactly that.
According to a transcript and recording published by Bloomberg, Witkoff wasn’t just talking to the Kremlin; he was coaching it. He provided specific, tactical advice on how Vladimir Putin should approach President Trump to discuss Ukraine, including using flattery tied to the Gaza ceasefire to set the stage. The revelation has ignited a firestorm, with critics alleging the nascent U.S. peace effort is fundamentally tilted toward Russian interests.
This isn’t just about a leak. It’s a window into a diplomatic process that appears to prioritize back-channel choreography and political optics over multilateral statecraft.
Pull quote: “He wasn’t just talking to the Kremlin; he was coaching it.”
The Call: A Line-by-Line Breakdown
The following is a detailed, complete paraphrase of the call based on the Bloomberg transcript.
· 0:00 — The Opening: Witkoff greets Ushakov and gets straight to the point: he has a suggestion for how Putin should approach Trump.
· 0:20 — The Invitation: Ushakov, receptive, asks to hear the idea.
· 0:30 — The Flattery Play: Witkoff lays out the core tactic. Putin should call Trump to congratulate him on the Gaza ceasefire, praising him as “a man of peace.” This positive framing, Witkoff suggests, would make the subsequent conversation about Ukraine “a really good call.”
· 0:55 — Kremlin Buy-In: Ushakov agrees that congratulating Trump is appropriate and promises to pass the idea up the chain.
· 1:10 — The Gaza Model: Witkoff proposes modeling a Ukraine peace plan on the “20-point” framework used for Gaza, creating a compact, presentable deal.
· 1:40 — The Timing Question: Ushakov asks if a Putin-Trump call should happen before Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy meets with Trump.
· 1:55 — The Insider’s Confidence: Witkoff affirms the timing, reinforcing that the Gaza praise is key. He signals his own influence, stating he believes “the president will give me a lot of space and discretion to get to the deal.”
· 2:30 — The Kremlin’s Calculus: Ushakov says he will informally relay the suggestion, noting Moscow will consider how hard to push its own demands.
· 3:00-3:30 — The Close: The call ends with mutual courtesies and an agreement to keep the channel informal.
Analysis: Why This Call Changes Everything
The substance of the call is less about a grand conspiracy and more about a revealing process. The implications are profound.
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The “Honest Broker” is Compromised. Diplomacy often involves schmoozing, but here, a U.S. envoy is actively scripting the other side’s pitch to his own president. This blurs the line between negotiation and coordination, shattering any perception of the U.S. as a neutral mediator. It makes the entire peace process look like a pre-orchestrated deal between Washington and Moscow, with Kyiv as an afterthought.
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It Validates the Worst Fears About the 28-Point Plan. This call is widely seen as the origin story for the Trump administration’s public 28-point peace proposal—a plan criticized for forcing Ukrainian territorial concessions. The leak suggests key elements were brainstormed with the Kremlin first, explaining why the resulting framework appears so favorable to Russian demands.
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The “Standard Practice” Defense Rings Hollow. While the White House calls this “standard” negotiating work, that defense is misleading. Standard practice involves transparent, institutional diplomacy, not clandestine coaching for an adversarial regime on how to manipulate the U.S. president’s ego. This is ad-hoc, personalistic diplomacy at its most risky.
Pull quote: “This is ad-hoc, personalistic diplomacy at its most risky.”
- It Undermines the Deal Before It’s Made. By revealing the tactical packaging, the leak makes it impossible for any resulting agreement to be seen as legitimate. If a deal emerges that mirrors what was discussed, Kyiv and U.S. allies will view it not as a product of good-faith negotiation, but as a pre-cooked arrangement delivered through political theater.
Pull quote: “If a deal mirrors this call, it will be seen as a pre-cooked arrangement — not a negotiated peace.”
The Fallout: Immediate Reactions
· Kyiv: Ukrainian officials have swiftly reiterated they will not accept any agreement that recognizes Russian territorial gains or forces demilitarization.
· Washington: Bipartisan alarm is growing. Lawmakers from both parties have expressed deep concern that the envoy tasked with peace is acting in a manner that benefits Moscow.
· Moscow: The Kremlin, while calling the leak disruptive, has confirmed plans for Witkoff to visit Moscow for further talks, signaling the channel remains very much open.
The Bottom Line
The Witkoff tape is a diagnostic tool. It reveals a peace process that is fragile, opaque, and built on a foundation of political flattery rather than strategic stability.
For a peace settlement to be durable, it requires the genuine consent of Ukraine, robust security guarantees, and the trust of Western allies. This leak demonstrates that the current process is lacking in all three. The pursuit of a headline-grabbing “deal” may be advancing, but the prospects for a lasting peace are not.
Final pull quote: “The pursuit of a headline-grabbing ‘deal’ may be advancing, but the prospects for a lasting peace are not.”
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