Kremlin stands up for Trump's special envoy Witkoff, says there is "nothing alarming" about leak
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said the Kremlin sees "nothing alarming" in the publication of a transcript of a call between Steve Witkoff and aides to Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and suggested that the dismissal of the US president's special envoy could disrupt peace talks.
Source: RIA Novosti, a Kremlin-aligned Russian news agency
Details: Peskov told Russian Kremlin-aligned media that there is "nothing alarming" in the transcript of a conversation between Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Putin's aides that has been released by Bloomberg.
He added that "voices" now calling for Witkoff to be removed "are aimed above all at wrecking the still modest trend towards moving to a settlement through peace talks".
Background:
- Bloomberg earlier published a transcript of a telephone conversation in which the US President's Special Envoy Steve Witkoff gave Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov advice on how Russia could better present its proposals for a "peace deal" to Donald Trump.
- Another leaked call between Yuri Ushakov and Kremlin special envoy Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, suggests that the so-called 28-point "peace plan" was drafted by Putin's aides and that Witkoff was supposed to present it as his own work.
- On 25 November, Trump said he had instructed Witkoff and US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to finalise the terms of the "peace deal" between Russia and Ukraine. Witkoff will travel to Moscow, and if the process reaches the final stage, Trump will meet with Putin and Zelenskyy.
- According to Trump, the biggest concession from Russia is that they would stop fighting and not take any more land.
- The United States and Ukraine have differing views on three points of the "peace plan", including the idea that Ukraine should withdraw without a fight from the part of Donetsk Oblast not under Russian control.
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