#steve-witkoff

#steve-witkoff

The meeting is expected to address borders, security guarantees, frozen Russian assets, and potential US-Russian investment projects. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Putin would receive Witkoff, whose role has been under the scanner after reports emerged that he advised a senior Kremlin aide on how to present a Ukraine peace plan to US President Donald Trump. "I think the administration feels very optimistic," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday.

The diplomatic effort to end the war in Ukraine could be entering a pivotal week, the EU's foreign policy chief has said, as Donald Trump's special envoy prepared to meet Vladimir Putin after talks at the weekend with Ukraine. Steve Witkoff, the property developer turned envoy recently exposed for coaching Russian officials on how to win Trump's favour, will hold talks with Putin in Moscow on Tuesday, the Kremlin announced.

Vladimir Putin has said that the outline of a draft peace plan discussed by the US and Ukraine could serve as a basis for future negotiations to end the war but insisted Ukraine would have to surrender territory for any deal to be possible. In general, we agree that this can be the basis for future agreements, Putin said, noting that the version of the plan discussed by Washington and Kyiv in Geneva had been shared with Moscow.

Bloomberg's scoop showing how Trump aide Steve Witkoff coached the Kremlin on the best way to get into Trump's good graces is extraordinary for what it tells us about Witkoff's dubious loyalties and the Kremlin's potential influence over US negotiation efforts. But equally interesting is the leaked material itself and where it may have come from. The story covers two intercepted phone calls:

Witkoff said he believed the land concessions were necessary all while advising Ushakov to congratulate Trump and frame discussions more optimistically. Now, me to you, I know what it's going to take to get a peace deal done: Donetsk and maybe a land swap somewhere, Witkoff told Ushakov during the five-minute conversation, according to Bloomberg's transcript. But I'm saying instead of talking like that, let's talk more hopefully because I think we're going to get to a deal here.

A New York Times investigation reveals that when Witkoff, a real estate developer and longtime friend of Trump, began his new position as a diplomat in the Middle East, his son Alex took over his company, the Witkoff Group. Since then, not only has the Witkoff Group continued to ink major deals with investors in the Gulf Arab states, but the elder Witkoff has not even fully divested from the company.

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: