US President Donald Trump has defended special envoy Steve Witkoff as doing the “standard thing” after a leaked recording appeared to show him advising a Russian official on how to appeal to the president.

Trump told reporters on Wednesday he had not heard the audio, but that Witkoff was doing “what a dealmaker does” to “sell” the peace plan to both Russia and Ukraine.

The leaked call from last month emerged days after a 28-point draft peace plan presented by the US largely reflected Russian positions on its full-scale war in Ukraine.