The official U.S. line on how the peace plan to end the Ukraine war emerged has Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner developing it, Marco Rubio endorsing it and then Russia assenting to it. But that story does not hold up.
First, Rubio told two senators that the plan was made in Moscow and was one-sided. Later, having been told this was Trump’s plan, he changed his story and said he was all aboard.
Then Bloomberg reported on a telephone conversation between Witkoff and Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy aide to Vladimir Putin. According to Bloomberg, Witkoff tells Ushakov, “Here’s what I would do.” He is all ears. Witkoff advises that the Russians compliment Trump on his peace initiative and say Russia supports it. Then “maybe we set out like a 20-point peace proposal, just like we did in Gaza,” he adds.
Don Bacon, a Republican member of Congress, said of Witkoff: “Would a Russian paid agent do less than he? He should be fired.”
He won’t be, of course. Asked about the conversation, Trump said: “I haven’t heard it, but it’s a standard thing. That’s what a deal maker does.” In other words, he knew all about it and supported Witkoff. Why not? These are real estate guys, and that’s the way they always operate. Trump even said he had “thought this [deal] would be one of the easier ones because of my relationship with President Putin. But this is probably one of the more difficult ones because there’s a lot of hatred.”
Also notable is the administration’s chaotic, self-interested diplomacy. The secretary of state/national security adviser isn’t in charge—Witkoff and Kushner are. Their eyes, and probably Trump’s, are on potential financial rewards from an agreement with Moscow: investment opportunities in energy, rare earth minerals in the Arctic, Russian infrastructure and resources.
That approach, which ignores Ukraine’s and Europe’s security, must leave heads spinning among Russia and Europe experts in the State Department and intelligence community. But that’s Trumpworld, where the personal interest is the national interest.
Mel Gurtov is professor emeritus of political science at Portland State University.
