It is past time for President Donald Trump to cut ties with Steve Witkoff. The Special Envoy has become part of the problem as Team Trump attempts to negotiate a comprehensive ceasefire with Russia.
Witkoff simply parrots Russian President Vladimir Putin’s talking points and desired end-state goals in Ukraine.
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Rather than articulating US aims and securing Ukraine’s sovereignty, Witkoff is over-identifying with Moscow. On Monday he told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that his discussions with Putin were “compelling” and centered around a possible peace deal based on the status of the “five territories.”
In the Cold War days of old, we used to call that capitulation. Witkoff, bizarrely views – international law notwithstanding – illegally awarding Putin with the Ukrainian oblasts of Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia as simply expedient.
Continuing, Witkoff asserted that there was “so much more to it,” and then rambled off more Putin talking points: “security protocols, no NATO, Article 5, and problematic things happening between the two countries.”
Putin was, undoubtedly, pleased. Nowhere during the Fox News interview did Witkoff ever mention Ukraine’s concerns.
Ukraine – unacceptably – is the odd man out in these ceasefire negotiations. Team Trump’s discussions are clearly centered on post-war US relations. Witkoff validated this when he said: “There is a possibility to reshape the Russian-US relationship through some very compelling commercial opportunities that I think give real stability to the region too. Partnerships create stability.”
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For Witkoff, sacrificing all or part of Ukraine’s interests has simply become a means to an end – and a means of throwing Putin’s faltering army a lifeline. It is becoming abundantly clear that the Trump Administration is not willing to force Russia to stop attacking; rather, they are trying to leverage Ukraine, and their European supporters, to stop resisting.
This point is supported by a recent Economist report that some Trump administration officials are dissatisfied with European countries’ ongoing kinetic support for Ukraine, even questioning an unspecified ally about why it continues sending military aid to the country.
Less than a day after Witkoff’s pathetic display of endearment towards Putin as they met in Saint Petersburg, the Russian wannabe Peter the Great and IJC-indicted war criminal authorized a ballistic missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Sumy. Two Iskander-variant ballistic missiles packed with cluster munitions struck the city center on Palm Sunday, killing 34 civilians and wounding 117.
Fifteen of Putin’s victims were children. Witkoff, predictably – and tellingly – failed to condemn the attack.
White House appeasement and conciliatory actions are facilitating the Russian leader’s real agenda – genocide of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s children – seemingly – are just fodder to Witkoff as well to achieve his ends with Putin no matter the human cost. Only one week prior, a Russian ballistic missile armed with a cluster warhead struck Kryvyi Rih, killing 20 civilians and wounding 72, and, including 9 children. That attack contributed to the resignation of US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink, who was initially criticized for not naming Russia, then finally did, going against what appeared to be a State Department directive not to explicitly criticize Moscow.
As we stated in The Hill in Washington DC last week: “Russia does not want peace – at least not peace as the West envisions it. For Putin, peace is accomplished when Ukraine stops resisting. His intended end-state is the complete annihilation of Ukraine, its people, and its culture.”
White House appeasement and conciliatory actions are facilitating the Russian leader’s real agenda – genocide of Ukraine.
Trump said he “wants to stop the killing.” But why? For Ukraine or for those “compelling commercial opportunities” referenced by Witkoff?
Meanwhile, Russia keeps attacking, Ukraine keeps defending, and Team Trump simply does not have any answers. Rather, excuses for Putin’s actions, more “endless negotiations about negotiations,” and blaming the victim (Ukraine) and the Biden Administration.
Retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honore decades ago coined what has now become a classic phrase for this scenario: “Don’t get stuck on stupid.”
Team Trump, when it comes to Putin, is very much stuck on stupid. It is high time for the White House to get unstuck.
Mr. President – this is not working. If you are sincere about “bring[ing] about an end to this war” and “wanting the shooting to stop, the warfare to stop, the dying and the suffering to stop,” then you need to bring a hammer to the negotiation table.
Your hammer should come in the form of retired Flag Officers such as Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, Gen. Jack Keane, Gen. David Petraeus, Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, US Air Force Philip Breedlove or US Navy Adm. James Stavridis to deliver the message.
Putin needs to be told, not enticed. Dictated to, not bargained with – and made to understand the rising cost of continuing his attacks on Ukrainian cities, critical energy infrastructure, and frontline troops.
Putin only understands strength. He exploits weakness and obsequious men like Witkoff. To borrow the old expression from Doc Holiday’s character in the 1993 movie “Tombstone”, Witkoff is not Trump’s huckleberry.
Mr. President, flip the script. Make this about Ukrainian and European security. Save any dealmaking for Putin’s successor.
Instead, make Putin understand he will pay an ever-increasing significant price for continuing his attacks.
Team Trump, when it comes to Putin, is very much stuck on stupid. It is high time for the White House to get unstuck.
Rather than rejecting security guarantees to Kyiv, denying new aid packages, and making concessions to broker a ceasefire with Russia, Team Trump should throw its unequivocal support behind Ukraine. The following four actions would facilitate this shift in strategy.
Resume shipments of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine – to include precision deep strike weapons, fighter aircraft, cluster munitions, artillery, tanks and armored personnel carriers in volume. Not just more sanctions.
Support German chancellor Friedrich Merz, who recently announced Germany was willing to send its Taurus long-range missiles to Ukraine “if it were done in conjunction with allies.” The US, France, and United Kingdom can provide ATACMS, SCALP and Storm Shadow missiles with the next shipment.
Sell Zelensky the 10 Patriot air defense systems he offered to purchase Sunday on CBS News for $15 billion to shield densely populated cities from ongoing Russian missile and drone attacks. Doing so will save some Ukrainian children from being injured or killed by Putin’s crimes against humanity.
Get behind the European no-fly zone initiative. Sky Shield involves the deployment of 120 fighter jets as part of a European air force to protect Kyiv and western Ukraine from potential Russian air attacks.
Mr. President, with leadership comes responsibility. The killing stops when Russia is defeated in Ukraine. It is time to make the hard right decision. Firing Witkoff would send a long-needed shot across Putin’s bow that you intend to win.
The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.
Copyright 2025. Jonathan E. Sweet and Mark C. Toth. All rights reserved.
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