Source of leaked Witkoff-Russia tapes likely 'journalistic scoop' — diplomat

Diplomat Oleh Shamshur stated this on Espreso TV.

"Regarding all these publications of Witkoff's conversations with Russian representatives, one can only guess how these recordings got to the journalists. Perhaps the publication of these conversations is beneficial to the journalists themselves to get some hot information; they certainly have their own sources for obtaining information," explained Shamshur.

The diplomat considers it unlikely that the Russians themselves provided the recordings of Witkoff's conversations to Bloomberg journalists.

"Perhaps some of Witkoff's 'friends' leaked the recordings of his conversations with Ushakov and Dmitriev. There is also a theory, which is closer to a conspiracy theory, that the Russians themselves leaked this information to show how dependent Witkoff and others are on them. I believe such a scenario has a very low probability. Still, I believe that the leak of these conversations is a journalistic scoop to get more views and the possibility of obtaining new details," he added.

• U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff advised a top Putin aide on how to approach Donald Trump with a Ukraine peace plan, suggesting they collaborate on a proposal modeled after the Gaza ceasefire deal.
• U.S. President Donald Trump commented on media reports about past conversations between his special representative, Steve Witkoff, and Putin's aide, Yuri Ushakov. He called them 'standard negotiation.'