An astute observation
“Something you will never see in Moscow : the US delegation speaking to journalists, outside, with the president nearby.”
Lady Jaujau @ladyjaujau
New ideas or blackmail?
“Witkoff says he brought “new ideas” from Moscow to Kyiv and insists “both sides” must compromise.
But only one side invaded, occupied and murdered its way across the other. Sounds like he wants to force Ukraine to just accept Putin’s demands.”
Caolan @CaolanReports
No easy ride before the journalists
Journalists were asking Witkoff and Kushner really tough questions, very direct and honest. My respect. Although to be honest, the questions were much better than the answers that followed.
THIS IS WHAT I MEANT BY GOOD QUESTIONS AND BAD ANSWERS:
Richard Engle, NBC News: ‘This is for Mr. Witkoff and Jared Kushner. You have been involved in numerous negotiations around the world. Why should people have any confidence in your capacity to succeed here? You were involved in the Gaza negotiations, but Gaza remains a wasteland. There’s been really no progress there. Iran, you were involved in those negotiations. The war is still going on. You’ve been involved in several rounds of negotiations in this conflict. It’s only getting more intense. So you’re relaunching negotiations now. What’s the likelihood they will succeed, when other negotiations you’ve been involved in have not? @OARichardEngel
Kushner: …. The tone of your question was a little bit like: “Why haven’t you done every single impossible thing possible?” We are very honored to be able to have the opportunity to work on these, under President Trump’s leadership and we’re very committed to giving it everything we can. And I think President Trump has a track record of doing impossible things…. I can’t guarantee that there will be success, but what I can promise, you and promise everyone here in Ukraine and even everyone in Russia is that on behalf of President Trump Steve and I are gonna be doing everything we can. We have been doing everything we can to try and find a way out of a mess that was created before President Trump’s time which has had a huge toll. And so we’re gonna do our best to try and make progress.’”
Kateryna Lisunova @KaterynaLis
A piercing question from a Ukrainian journalist
Dmitry Gordon: “ ‘I have a question for you, Mr. Witkoff. You’ve met with President Putin many times. Don’t you think that Putin has been fooling you all this time? Don’t you think that Putin, the Russians, and Russia as a whole understand only one language — the language of force? And finally: Doesn’t it disgust you to sit at the same table with an international war criminal, the tormentor of the Ukrainian people, who is personally responsible for the Ukrainian tragedy?’
Of course, not a single substantive answer was given. Just a story about how well the Russians treated them.”
Denys Shtilierman @DenShtilierman
Trump’s goal: business with peace – but at who’s expense
“A Newsmax reporter calls out the Trump administration over Putin’s war, hybrid attacks on NATO, and cozying up to Iran and North Korea.
And how does Jared Kushner respond? By brushing off an active, bloody invasion like it’s a corporate merger, comparing Putin’s Russia to Germany and talking about ‘win-win business opportunities’ and ‘positive-sum peace.’
It’s the ultimate reality-distortion field – treating a brutal dictator like a business partner while dodging whether America will ever actually put the squeeze on Moscow.
Journalist NewsMax: ‘During your time as President Trump’s envoys, Russia has escalated its war against Ukraine, it has intensified its hybrid attacks against NATO, and it has deepened its ties with the likes of Iran and North Korea. So far, diplomacy has not changed Vladimir Putin’s position. Following your latest meetings here and in Moscow, you say there are some new ideas. We’ve heard that before. You said that you’re going to try, but if there is no breakthrough after these peace talks, is the US prepared to increase pressure on Russia? Thank you.’
Kushner: ‘President Trump comes from the business world, which in the business world, you think about things in the context of win-win. You know, how do you create opportunities for both sides to do what’s in their interest? War is negative sum. Everyone loses from war, whereas business and peace is positive sum, and hopefully you can find big benefits from that in a big way…. And President Trump obviously has a lot of different ways to play it, but he’s always focused on what are the best interests of America and the United States, and how do you find a way to do this in a way that can advance those interests.’”
Yasmina @yasminalombaert
The bottom line?
The reason why Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visit Putin in Moscow so much is because they are trying to make money for themselves and for Trump. It’s all just corruption and none of it is helping end this war.
Jake Broe @RealJakeBroe