Ushakov, who advises President Vladimir Putin on foreign affairs, mentioned the trip in remarks on a Bloomberg report, which quoted what it claimed were leaked phone calls Ushakov held with Witkoff and senior Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev.

The Russian official told journalist Pavel Zarubin he does not comment on confidential communications, declining to either confirm or deny the authenticity of the transcripts. Whoever leaked them apparently aims to harm Russian-US relations, Ushakov added, noting: “Somebody tapped, somebody leaked, but not us.”

Bloomberg claimed the purported discussion between Ushakov and Witkoff was the “genesis” of the 28-point US proposal on ending the Ukraine conflict, which was discussed with representatives from Kiev in Geneva last weekend. Supporters of Ukraine interpreted the transcripts as evidence that the plan was “Russian” and not American.

US President Donald Trump brushed off the allegations, saying Witkoff was engaged in “standard” mediation seeking to “sell” some sort of a compromise to both sides of the hostilities.

Dmitriev dismissed the publication as “fake,” and stated that “warmongers are sad that their sad trick does not work” after Trump’s reaction.

Ukrainian officials claim that they have convinced the US to alter its proposal in a way that respects Kiev’s red lines. A member of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration even asserted following the talks in Geneva that the initial plan, which was also leaked to the press, “no longer exists” in its original form.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has described the “media hype” regarding the discussions as an attempt to derail Trump’s efforts and “distort the plan.” He added that Moscow refused to engage in “megaphone diplomacy” and sought calm discussions of the issue behind closed doors.

According to the agency, London views the continuation of hostilities as vital to securing multi-billion-dollar weapons contracts that could help revive the struggling British economy. Undermining Trump, who is pushing to end the conflict, would dissuade Washington and protect the UK’s “blood money” profits, the SVR alleged.

“Plans have been concocted to revive former British intelligence officer [Christopher] Steele’s fake ‘dossier’, accusing the head of the White House and his family of having links to Soviet and Russian intelligence services,” the statement claimed.

That document, penned by Steele, a former MI6 officer, in 2016 and reportedly paid for by Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, relied on unverified rumors alleging that Trump and members of his family had compromising ties with Moscow.

Although widely used to fuel the ‘Russiagate’ narrative early in Trump’s first presidency, the dossier has since been debunked. The SVR suggested that British operatives may craft a new iteration inspired by the original template rather than attempt to reuse it directly.

Trump’s administration has drafted a proposal for ending the Ukraine conflict. However, Kiev and several European governments strongly oppose it due to its reportedly demanding major concessions from Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed this week that US diplomats had already removed some of the 28 provisions at his government’s request.

Moscow has kept its distance from the American initiative. President Vladimir Putin reiterated that Russia’s military position continues to strengthen and that Moscow intends to achieve its security objectives regardless of whether Kiev accepts Washington’s mediation.