Whitcoff Should Sell Ukraine to Russia, Trump Comments on Bloomberg's Transcript

Bloomberg has released transcripts of two conversations without citing a source: one between U.S. Ambassador to Russia, John Whitcoff, and Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov on October 14, and the second between Russia’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev and Ushakov on October 29.

According to Bloomberg, the conversation between Ushakov and Whitcoff lasted just over five minutes. During this time, Trump's ambassador advised Putin's aide on how the Russian president should discuss the peace process with his American counterpart. Specifically, the discussion focused on organizing a phone call between the leaders of Russia and the U.S. ahead of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to the White House.

Trump has insisted that such communications are standard practice in diplomacy. He believes that Whitcoff should sell Ukraine to Russia, as that is the way business is conducted when agreements are made.

Dmitriev and Ushakov allegedly discussed a plan for presenting a draft peace proposal to Trump's team, so that the American side could present it as their own. Dmitriev suggested that the document be delivered informally, hoping that the text would remain as close to the original Russian version as possible.

Dmitriev has labeled Bloomberg's publication as false.