Leaked phone call with US is an attempt to scuttle negotiations, Kremlin says

Bloomberg reported that President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, told Putin's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov in an Oct. 14 phone call that they should work together on a cease-fire plan for Ukraine and that Putin should raise it in talks with Trump.

Bloomberg said it had consulted a recording of the phone call and published a transcript.

Responding to reporters' questions, the US president noted that he had not heard a recording of the conversation but that he was not surprised because "that's how negotiators do things."

Asked why the call was leaked, Ushakov told Russian state television on Wednesday, "To obstruct, probably. It was hardly done to improve relations." He also announced that Witkoff would arrive in Moscow next week, according to a preliminary agreement.

Also on Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said European politicians and European media were trying to undermine U.S. efforts to reach a peace deal for Ukraine.

(reuters, est)