Donald Trump has defended his special envoy Steve Witkoff as doing the standard thing after a leaked recording appeared to show him advising a Russian official on how to appeal to the US president.
Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he had not heard the audio, but that Witkoff was doing what a dealmaker does to sell a US-authored peace plan to both Russia and Ukraine.
The leaked call from last month emerged days after the 28-point draft peace plan was presented by the US, which largely reflected Russian positions on ending its full-scale war in Ukraine.
Witkoff has visited Moscow several times this year and will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin again next week.
He has never gone to Kyiv in his role as special envoy, though other US officials have visited and US army secretary Dan Driscoll went to Kyiv this week. Trump says he will hold further talks with the Ukrainians.
In the leaked audio recording obtained and shared as a transcript by Bloomberg, Witkoff appeared to advise Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign policy adviser, on how to get on Trump's good side.
During the leaked conversation, Witkoff is quoted discussing the need for a call between Trump and Putin and suggesting how to frame it positively. He emphasized setting a collaborative tone to encourage productive dialogue between the leaders.
Despite controversy surrounding Witkoff's approach and the content of the peace plan, Trump reiterated that the negotiation tactics were expected and necessary in achieving a resolution to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
