'There Can Be No Talk Of Concessions’: Russia On Revised Ukraine Peace Plan

Last Updated:November 26, 2025, 23:21 IST

Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov says Moscow will make no big concessions on the Ukraine peace plan as a leaked Steve Witkoff call reveals US-Russia negotiations.

Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov. (SkyNews/X)

Russia will make “no big concessions" on the peace plan for Ukraine, deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday.

“Various versions of this plan are a bargaining chip. There can be no talk of any concessions or any abandonment of our approaches to the key issues in achieving our goals," Ryabkov said.

This comes after a recording of a call of US envoy Steve Witkoff showing he had advised Moscow on how to pitch to President Donald Trump, went viral.

According to Reuters, Witkoff is expected to travel to Moscow next week with other senior US officials for talks with Russian leaders about a possible plan to end the nearly four-year-old war in Ukraine, the deadliest in Europe since World War Two.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday defended his special envoy Steve Witkoff after Bloomberg News published a leaked transcript of Witkoff’s October 14 phone call with senior Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov.

The audio appeared to show the envoy coaching the Russian side on how to frame a proposed Ukraine peace plan in a way that would appeal to Trump.

Asked by a reporter whether he had heard the recording, Trump insisted the contents reflected normal diplomatic bargaining.

“I haven’t heard it, no. But that is a standard thing, you know, because he has got to sell this to Ukraine. He has got to sell Ukraine to Russia. That is what a dealmaker does. You have got to say, ‘Look, they want this, you have got to convince them of this.’ That is a very standard form of negotiation," Trump said. He added that Witkoff was likely giving similar guidance to Kyiv because “each party has to give and take".

Bloomberg published excerpts from the conversation but did not disclose how it obtained access to what would normally be a highly sensitive call between senior officials of the world’s two largest nuclear powers. The outlet said it had reviewed a recording of the conversation.

The transcript showed Witkoff advising Ushakov that Russian President Vladimir Putin could strengthen the atmosphere for talks by calling Trump to congratulate him for the Gaza peace deal, emphasise that Moscow supported it and underscore that he respects Trump as “a man of peace".

Responding to the leak, Ushakov told Russian state media that the conversations with Witkoff were not meant for publication and should not have been leaked. He did not question their authenticity but said the motive appeared to be disruptive.

The leaked transcript surfaced hours after Trump revealed that his Ukraine peace proposal had been “fine-tuned". He also announced that he was sending Witkoff to Moscow to meet Putin in an effort to resolve “a few remaining points of disagreement".

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