'First congratulate him for Gaza deal, then...': In LEAKED call transcript, Witkoff reveals how to crack a deal with Trump

US President Donald Trump revealed his 28-point peace plan to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. As several European leaders pointed out that the plan was heavily biased for Russia, the American president later claimed it was not the final plan. Meanwhile, Russia confirmed that Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff will visit Moscow next week amid the efforts to bring both Kyiv and Moscow to the negotiation table. Amid all this, a leaked phone call transcript has shown Witkoff training Vladimir Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, on how to crack a deal with Trump.

As per the transcript of the October 14 call published by the news service and reported by Bloomberg, Witkoff advised Ushakov that Putin should call Trump to congratulate him on the Gaza peace deal. The special envoy then said that the Russian president should say that Russia supported Trump's Gaza deal. And then, he should say that he respects the US president as a "man of peace".

“From that, it's going to be a really good call,” Witkoff said, according to the transcript published by Bloomberg.

Later on, Trump was asked about Witkoff's advice in the call transcript. The American president said it was a “standard” negotiating procedure. “He's got to sell this to Ukraine. He's got to sell Ukraine to Russia,” Trump told reporters, “That's what a dealmaker does," he added.