(MENAFN) US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, along with other officials engaged in negotiations over the Ukraine conflict, is scheduled to visit Moscow next week, confirmed Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov.

Ushakov, who provides counsel to President Vladimir Putin on foreign policy, mentioned the visit in a statement following a Bloomberg report that cited alleged leaked phone conversations between Ushakov, Witkoff, and senior Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev.

In an interview with a journalist, Ushakov refused to comment on the details of private discussions, neither confirming nor denying the authenticity of the leaked transcripts. He suggested that the leak was aimed at damaging US-Russia relations, stating: “Somebody tapped, somebody leaked, but not us.”

According to Bloomberg, the purported conversation between Ushakov and Witkoff marked the "genesis" of the 28-point US proposal aimed at resolving the Ukraine conflict.

This plan was reportedly discussed with Ukrainian representatives in Geneva during talks held over the weekend. Supporters of Ukraine, however, viewed the leaked transcripts as proof that the proposal was "Russian" in nature rather than American.

US President Donald Trump dismissed these claims, describing Witkoff's actions as "standard" mediation efforts, intended to broker a compromise between the opposing sides in the conflict.

Dmitriev also denounced the publication as "fake," adding that "warmongers are sad that their sad trick does not work" in response to Trump's comments.

Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, assert that they have successfully persuaded the US to amend the proposal, ensuring that it respects Ukraine's key demands.

A member of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration even stated after the Geneva discussions that the initial version of the plan, which was also leaked, "no longer exists" in its original form.

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