Into busy diplomacy Ukraine Additional excitement came from alleged wiretapping of phone calls between US and Russian negotiators. US special envoy Steve Witkoff comes under fire; However, President Donald Trump immediately defended him from accusations of his excessive closeness to Russia.
“This is a very normal thing,” the Republican said on a flight to Florida when asked about the sensitive report by the Bloomberg news agency. According to his own information, he obtained a recording of a five-minute telephone conversation on October 14, which he published as a written transcript.
In it, Witkoff speaks with Yuri Ushakov, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy adviser. He apparently gave him a tip on that one Trump ears with praise for his peace in Gaza. In fact, the suggestion apparently led to a telephone conversation between Putin and Trump on October 16. The American then raised the prospect of another summit in the Hungarian capital, Budapest. Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the White House on October 17 lost its significance.
The Kremlin sees an attempt to derail peace talks
Witkoff (68) is not a diplomat, but a real estate entrepreneur like Trump. Although there were calls for Witkoff to resign even within the Republican Party, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on the Russian side interpreted the publication as an attempt to undermine peace efforts. “It is clear that there are many people in various countries who are experiencing this United States of America “including those who want to stop the trend towards peace,” he said, according to state news agency Tass. At the same time, he did not attach much importance to the leak.
Ushakov said his conversation with Vitkoff was not intended for public consumption. “No one is allowed to publish this. No one,” he said, according to Tass. It is not known where the interception record came from.
Trump: “Completely normal negotiations”
Trump said he had not heard a recording of the conversation, but that to him it all sounded like a “normal negotiation.” Russia’s position must be conveyed to Ukraine and vice versa Moscow Claim from Kyiv. When asked whether his special envoy was too friendly with Russia, Trump replied that a war could last for years – and that Russia had “more people and soldiers” than Ukraine. If the country under attack could negotiate a deal, he said that would be “a good thing.”
Second Phone Call: Where Did the US Peace Plan Come From?
The Bloomberg report also cited an internal Russian phone call in late October between Putin adviser Ushakov and special envoy Kirill Dmitriyev. He suggested leaking unofficial documents as an alleged peace plan. Even if the US does not adopt this completely, Moscow’s perspective will still be taken into consideration, Dmitriyev said.
This sentence strengthens the circulating suspicion that the peace plan put forward by the US since last week at least partly came from Russia. The independent research portal “The Insider” also reported that the peace plan was largely written by Dmitriyev.
Witkoff had to meet Putin again
Despite the excitement surrounding the phone call, diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine, which has lasted more than three and a half years, continue. Witkoff is expected to arrive in Moscow next week and will likely be received by Putin, Ushakov said in statements to Russian state television. There is no exact date yet. Trump ordered the trip late Tuesday, as well as other conversations between negotiator Daniel Driscoll and the Ukrainian side.
EU Foreign Ministers to put additional pressure on Moscow
EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas wants to increase the chances of success of the current US initiative to end the Ukraine war by putting additional pressure on the initiative. Russia increase. To get the best results for Ukraine and Europe, steps in this direction must be stepped up, he said after a video link with the foreign ministers of EU countries and their Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sybiha. That means: “More sanctions to deter Russia from continuing the war, and more military and financial support for Ukraine.”
Von der Leyen: Russian money for Ukraine
Despite the US initiative to end the war, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen went ahead with plans to use frozen Russian assets in the EU. Von der Leyen told the EU Parliament in Strasbourg that she could not imagine a scenario in which European taxpayers alone would foot the bill for the ongoing support needed for Ukraine. The Commission is ready to present a legal text on the use of Russian central bank funds held in Europe.
The current plan is to provide Ukraine with loans worth up to 140 billion euros using Russian funds. Russia should only get the money back if they make reparation payments after the war of aggression against Ukraine ends.
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