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Many people have been wondering why Donald Trump's plan to end the war in Ukraine looks like it was written by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Maybe it was. Now there is evidence that Trump's special envoy to Russia, Steve Witkoff, has not only worked with Russia in concocting the plan, but has also coached Russia on how to sell it. He is anything but a neutral third party trying to make a fair deal. He is toting water for Russia.
In particular, a phone call between Witkoff and top Russian official Yuri Ushakov has leaked. Bloomberg News first reported it but has not explained how it got it. In the call, Witkoff tells the Russian how to sell the plan to Trump. It makes it look like Witkoff is in cahoots with the Russians.
Witkoff has known and idolized Trump for 40 years. Witkoff once said: "I wanted to be him. Everybody wanted to be him. He'd come to 101 Park Avenue, where I was a lawyer. He had this swashbuckling style. I used to see him come in and I used to say, 'God, I want to be him.'" Sounds like the kind of person Trump would want to run errands for him. Especially after Witkoff went on Tucker Carlson's podcast earlier this year and said that Putin is "not a bad guy." Maybe Witkoff wants to be like Putin, too. Except that Putin is not terribly swashbuckling, except maybe when riding a horse shirtless (both Putin and the horse were shirtless).
Aaron Miller, who has negotiated for both Democratic and Republican administrations, said: "Deals are cut when there is urgency. And urgency is a function of two things: How much pain the parties are under and what are the prospects for gain right now." If Miller is right, Putin is not going to make a deal now unless he can dictate the terms because he is not experiencing enough pain. Witkoff probably senses this and since he is desperate to please his idol (Trump, not Putin), the only way he can cut a deal and make Trump happy is to offer Trump what Putin wants and then help the Russians convince Trump that it is the only possible deal. So that is what he is doing.
A spokesperson for the Kremlin reacted to the leaked phone call by saying it was an attempt to disrupt the peace process. He also said that it was premature to say that a deal was close by. Ushakov, the guy on the other end of the Witkoff phone call, said that "some of these leaks are fake," but didn't specifically address the call in which Witkoff told him how Putin should sell the plan to Trump. (V)