diff --git a/litellm/responses/litellm_completion_transformation/transformation.py b/litellm/responses/litellm_completion_transformation/transformation.py
index 48b12a5fba9..6e3c56e9e1f 100644
--- a/litellm/responses/litellm_completion_transformation/transformation.py
+++ b/litellm/responses/litellm_completion_transformation/transformation.py
@@ -982,6 +982,33 @@ class LiteLLMCompletionResponsesConfig:
             return LiteLLMCompletionResponsesConfig._transform_responses_api_function_call_to_chat_completion_message(
                 function_call=input_item
             )
+        elif input_item.get("type") == "reasoning":
+            # FIX (BerriAI/litellm#26395 — Responses-API path):
+            # ``ResponseReasoningItemParam`` carries the prior-turn
+            # chain-of-thought summary. The fall-through ``else`` branch
+            # below would treat it as generic user/assistant content and
+            # place the reasoning text into the regular ``content``
+            # field of an extra assistant message. That has two bad effects
+            # for downstream Chat-Completion providers:
+            #   1. The reasoning text pollutes the prompt as visible
+            #      content, inflating tokens and confusing the model.
+            #   2. The adjacent assistant message ends up WITHOUT a
+            #      ``reasoning_content`` field — and DeepSeek V4 rejects
+            #      that with HTTP 400
+            #      "reasoning_content must be passed back".
+            #
+            # Minimum-viable fix: skip the reasoning item entirely (return
+            # []) so it does not end up in the Chat-Completion ``messages``
+            # array at all. Provider-specific transformations downstream
+            # (e.g. ``DeepSeekChatConfig._transform_messages``) are then
+            # responsible for injecting an empty ``reasoning_content`` on
+            # the adjacent assistant message if the provider requires it.
+            #
+            # A future improvement could merge the reasoning text into the
+            # adjacent assistant message's ``reasoning_content`` field for
+            # full fidelity; this PR deliberately stops at the minimum
+            # change that unblocks the bridge.
+            return []
         else:
             content = input_item.get("content")
             # Handle None content: Responses API allows None content, but GenericChatCompletionMessage requires content
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/responses/litellm_completion_transformation/test_responses_reasoning_input_item.py b/tests/test_litellm/responses/litellm_completion_transformation/test_responses_reasoning_input_item.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..aff21d7f5f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/responses/litellm_completion_transformation/test_responses_reasoning_input_item.py
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+"""
+Unit tests for ``_transform_responses_api_input_item_to_chat_completion_message``
+handling of ``ResponseReasoningItemParam`` (``type: "reasoning"``).
+
+Covers the Responses-API path of BerriAI/litellm#26395 — without the fix,
+prior-turn reasoning items pollute the prompt as visible content and leave
+the adjacent assistant message without ``reasoning_content``, which DeepSeek
+V4 rejects with HTTP 400 ``reasoning_content must be passed back``.
+"""
+
+from litellm.responses.litellm_completion_transformation.transformation import (
+    LiteLLMCompletionResponsesConfig,
+)
+
+
+def _transform_item(item):
+    return LiteLLMCompletionResponsesConfig._transform_responses_api_input_item_to_chat_completion_message(
+        input_item=item
+    )
+
+
+class TestReasoningInputItemHandler:
+    """Reasoning items are dropped from the Chat-Completion message stream."""
+
+    def test_reasoning_item_with_output_text_dropped(self):
+        """Standard Responses-API reasoning item shape → []."""
+        item = {
+            "type": "reasoning",
+            "id": "rs_abc",
+            "summary": [],
+            "content": [{"type": "output_text", "text": "step 1: think about X"}],
+        }
+        assert _transform_item(item) == []
+
+    def test_reasoning_item_with_string_content_dropped(self):
+        """Variant: reasoning content as a plain string → []."""
+        item = {"type": "reasoning", "id": "rs_1", "content": "step 1: ..."}
+        assert _transform_item(item) == []
+
+    def test_reasoning_item_with_summary_only_dropped(self):
+        """SDK 0.17 form: reasoning carried in summary list, no content → []."""
+        item = {
+            "type": "reasoning",
+            "id": "rs_2",
+            "summary": [{"type": "summary_text", "text": "..."}],
+        }
+        assert _transform_item(item) == []
+
+    def test_reasoning_item_empty_dropped(self):
+        """Reasoning item with neither content nor summary still drops cleanly."""
+        item = {"type": "reasoning", "id": "rs_3"}
+        assert _transform_item(item) == []
+
+
+class TestNonReasoningInputItemUnchanged:
+    """Non-reasoning items still flow through the existing branches."""
+
+    def test_user_message_unchanged(self):
+        item = {"role": "user", "content": "hello"}
+        out = _transform_item(item)
+        assert len(out) == 1
+        assert out[0].get("role") == "user"
+
+    def test_assistant_message_unchanged(self):
+        item = {"role": "assistant", "content": "hi"}
+        out = _transform_item(item)
+        assert len(out) == 1
+        assert out[0].get("role") == "assistant"
+
+    def test_none_content_still_returns_empty(self):
+        """Pre-existing behavior: None content → [] (unchanged by this fix)."""
+        item = {"role": "user", "content": None}
+        assert _transform_item(item) == []