Day 1,371.

Today, as a leaked call reveals that Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy to Russia, coached a Kremlin negotiator on how to make Donald Trump more favourable to Moscow’s position, we examine the fallout – or the lack of it. We also assess new signals that Trump’s much-trailed Thursday deadline may not be as cast-iron as claimed. Then we turn to the reaction from Moscow and across Europe’s parliaments: alarm, or business as usual?

Contributors

Francis Dearnley (Executive Editor for Audio). @FrancisDearnley on X.

Dominic Nicholls (Associate Editor of Defence). @DomNicholls on X.

James Kilner (Foreign Correspondent). @jkjourno on X.

Adélie Pojzman-Pontay (Journalist and Producer). @adeliepjz on X.

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CONTENT REFERENCED:

Telegraph Ukraine Live Blog:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/11/26/ukraine-russia-war-latest-news-trump-peace-talks/

Trump envoy coaches Kremlin negotiator in leaked call (Telegraph):

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/2025/11/25/witkoff-coach-russians-peace-plan-trump/

Starmer demands British boots on ground under Ukraine peace deal (The Telegraph):

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/11/25/russia-hints-it-may-reject-latest-peace-deal/

I’ve seen high-level negotiations. Witkoff broke the one rule that matters (David Blair in The Telegraph):

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11/26/witkoff-ushakov-leaked-call/

Bloomberg’s Leaked Transcripts:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-25/witkoff-advised-russia-on-how-to-pitch-ukraine-plan-to-trump

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Eric Satz, Co-Founder and CEO of Alto