Russian dictator Vladimir Putin threatened President Trump not to send Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine in a phone call set in motion by White House special envoy Steve Witkoff ahead of a high-stakes meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
With Zelensky scheduled to visit the White House the next day, Putin made the Oct. 16 call just as Trump was giving serious consideration to arming Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles to ramp up the pressure on Moscow to end its nearly four-year war on the country.
The critical Putin-Trump call came after Witkoff suggested to Yuri Ushakov, Russia’s top foreign policy aide, that Putin ingratiate himself with the US president by stroking his ego on achieving the Gaza cease-fire deal about a week before, according to a transcript published by Bloomberg of an Oct. 14 call between the US envoy and Kremlin chief foreign policy advisor.
“I would make the call and just reiterate that you congratulate the president on this achievement, that you supported it, you supported it, that you respect that he is a man of peace and you’re just, you’re really glad to have seen it happen. So I would say that,” Witkoff suggested to the Russian. “I think from that it’s going to be a really good call.”
Ushakov responded: “OK my friend. I think that very point our leaders could discuss. Hey Steve, I agree with you that he will congratulate, he will say that Mr. Trump is a real peace man and so and so. That he will say.”
A readout of the Oct. 16 call from Russia says Putin indeed congratulated Trump about his “successful efforts” in Gaza and said Trump’s “peace work has been duly appreciated … around the world.”
Putin then told Trump that arming Ukraine with Tomahawks would “inflict substantial damage to relations between our countries, to say nothing of the prospects for a peaceful settlement,” according to Russia’s account of the call.
Witkoff did not tell the Kremlin to threaten Trump — and made no mention of Tomahawks in the exchange, but said he believed Russia was ready to make a peace deal.
Putin was able to use the call to successfully talk Trump out of sending the long-range weapons — after Witkoff coached Ushakov on what Putin should tell the US president to convince him that Russia was ready to end its war on Ukraine, despite Moscow’s unwillingness to make any concessions.
“Maybe he says to President Trump: you know, Steve and Yuri discussed a very similar 20-point plan to peace and that could be something that we think might move the needle a little bit, we’re open to those sorts of things — to explore what it’s going to take to get a peace deal done,” Trump’s envoy said. --->READ MORE HERE
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on Thursday repeated his demands that Ukraine pull out of the Donbas region in the east of the country, days ahead of a scheduled visit by a US delegation for peace talks to end the ruthless war.
“Ukrainian troops will withdraw from the territories they occupy, and then the fighting will cease,” the Russian leader told reporters.
“If they don’t withdraw, we’ll achieve this through military force,” he said, as reported by the Kyiv Independent.
Moscow has illegally occupied the eastern Ukrainian oblasts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia since September 2022, when it held sham referenda in the territories.
The Donbas, or “Donets Coal Basin,” is a heavily industrialized region made up of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
Putin also confirmed a US delegation led by special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to the Russian capital early next week.
Witkoff came under pressure after a leak reportedly caught him coaching a Russian official on how to win over President Trump with flattery during the peace talks.
On Thursday, Putin claimed that the culprits could face criminal charges for leaking the call between Witkoff and Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, while also not ruling out that it could be a hoax.
He said those targeting Witkoff were trying to sabotage the talks and wanted “to fight until the last Ukrainian,” just like Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. --->READ MORE HEREFollow link below to a relevant story:
‘Traitor’: US representatives call for Trump envoy Witkoff to be fired after leaked Kremlin call
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