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Once more Washington has chosen to send New York real estate developer Steve Witkoff to meet with Vladimir Putin.
Who is it that believes that is not a catastrophic mismatch?
Here is the New York Post’s report on the mismatched Witkoff’s take.
THE NEW YORK POST
Top Trump adviser suggests ‘permanent peace’ between Russia, Ukraine could be imminent after high-stakes talks with Putin
By
Published April 15, 2025, 7:14 a.m. ET
President Trump’s special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff claimed his high-stakes talks with Vladimir Putin last week were “compelling” — and insisted the Russian leader was open to a “permanent peace” deal with Ukraine despite Witkoff coming home empty handed from his discussions on Friday. [It is difficult to believe Witkoff has been successful at anything. His naivete is simply astonishing. I haven’t checked but has he ever tried to buy the Brooklyn Bridge? But if he is being listened to in the While House the level of the danger he represents cannot be overestimated. RAM]
Witkoff, 68, sat down with Putin, 72, in St. Petersburg amid the Trump administration’s efforts to spearhead a deal to end the three-year war. [Hello! 11-year-war. RAM] Ukraine — handled by a different special presidential envoy, Gen. Keith Kellogg — has already agreed to a full cease-fire, but so far Witkoff has had no luck in luring the Kremlin to a deal.
“I think we might be on the verge of something that would be very, very important for the world at large,” Witkoff told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Monday, adding “it took a while for us to get to this place.”
Witkoff added that after five hours of talks with Putin, he saw a deal “emerging.”
“This peace deal is about these so-called five territories, but there’s so much more to it,” he said, referencing the eastern flank of Ukraine that Russia wants to annex. [How genuinely stupid can this New York real estate character be? He is over there thinking he simply is moving around pieces of real estate. Hello! There are people in those illegally seized “territories” who have and are suffering war crimes. And Witkoff could care less about the people or the precedence his “deal” would establish. He believes what Putin says despite there being no evidence that Putin has ever abided by any agreement. And every time Washington suggests progress is being made Putin slaughters more civilians. RAM]
After Witkoff’s talk with Putin — whom the longtime real estate investor said he does not “regard as a bad guy” — the envoy pitched to Trump that the US should support Russia’s aim to take those territories, which together make up about 25% of Ukraine. [Not a “bad guy” really? Putin is a genocidal war criminal but, hey, not so bad in the eyes of this New York real estate developer. Witkoff is an embarrassment to the Administration and our nation. RAM].
However, Kellogg pushed back against the proposal, pointing out that Kyiv would never sign off on such an agreement, according to sources familiar with the discussion.
Witkoff added that he saw “a possibility to reshape the Russian-United States relationship through some very compelling commercial opportunities that I think give real stability to the region too.” [There is it! It is almost Kremlin-like Witkoff’s total disregard for human lives, national identity, shattered international treaties, and malignant Russian aggression across the globe. He seeks financial opportunities – he suggests no moral standard of any kind. This is Holy Week – a reference to “thirty pieces of silver” might be in order. RAM]
Earlier Monday, Trump described Russia’s assault on Ukraine as “Biden’s war” — distancing himself from the conflict as his efforts to bring it to a speedy end have been frustrated.
“The War between Russia and Ukraine is Biden’s war, not mine. I just got here, and for four years during my term, had no problem in preventing it from happening,” he posted on Truth Social. [The President’s memory cannot be that deficient. Putin invaded and occupied Crimea and Donbas during the Obama administration. The war crimes began then, the abducting of Ukrainian children began then, the repression of civilians began then – and continued during our President’s first term. Putin’s war on Ukraine and the west is in its fourth American Presidential administration – two of which are President Trumps. RAM]
“President Putin, and everyone else, respected your President! I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS WAR, BUT AM WORKING DILIGENTLY TO GET THE DEATH AND DESTRUCTION TO STOP.” [With not a clue as to the fact that the only way – the only way – to stop Russian aggression is for Russia to be defeated. And Ukraine could do it with the arms it should have been given and still could be given. Ceasefires, so-called piece agreements would be nothing more that “time outs” to be followed by renewed and more threatening Russian war making. Understanding that should be self-evident and it is time that be the reality Washington addresses. RAM]
The Kremlin, meanwhile, described the talks as useful and effective — but said the two had not substantively discussed a possible meeting between Putin and Trump.
Asked if a Putin-Trump meeting was inching nearer, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state television the two powers were “walking along this path together very patiently” but that trying to restore relations would take serious and painstaking work. [Peskov could have added, “Oh, and meanwhile we (Russia) will keep launching missiles against the civilians in Ukraine. Rack up the bodies while we drag our negotiating feet.” RAM]
He suggested that such a meeting “requires more work, requires more time.”
Details of the talks emerged after Zelensky pleaded with Trump during a “60 Minutes” interview to visit his country to see the war’s devastation firsthand.
“We want you to come,” the Ukrainian president said.
“You think you understand what’s going on here. Okay, we respect your position. You understand. But, please, before any kind of decisions, any kind of forms of negotiations, come to see people, civilians, warriors, hospitals, churches, children destroyed or dead.”
“Come, look, and then let’s — let’s move with a plan how to finish the war,” he added.
ROBERT MCCONNELL
Co-Founder, U.S.-Ukraine Foundation
Director of External Affairs, Friends of Ukraine Network
The introduction and parenthetical comments are Mr. McConnell’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation or the Friends of Ukraine Network (FOUN).