"The other day, Axios posted a ridiculous column (with Mike Allen as the first byline) beginning to lay the groundwork for Trump to repackage imminent failure on Ukraine. It starts by allowing senior White House officials anonymously and vaguely blame Europeans for Trump's failure to craft a deal. Frustrated Trump aides contend the blame should fall on European allies, not on Trump or even Russian President Vladimir Putin. All three bases for that blame in the column are ridiculous:"
"What appears to have happened is that Mike Allen let a bunch of White House officials make ridiculous claims with no pushback. The latter half of the column (Barak Ravid is the second byline) ends with a description of another pointless Steve Witkoff meeting: The latest: On Friday, Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and Zelensky's chief of staff Andriy Yermak met in New York."
Senior White House officials anonymously blamed European leaders for obstructing a negotiated settlement in Ukraine, alleging Europeans push Ukraine to demand unrealistic territorial concessions, expect the U.S. to bear full war costs, and resist adding sanctions despite public signals of new measures. Several anonymous officials made those claims without pushback. A meeting between Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and Andriy Yermak in New York produced no significant progress. Multiple reports portray Witkoff as inept; one account describes Putin offering to relinquish legal claims to Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
Read at emptywheel
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]