L to R: Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner at talks with Ukrainian officials near Miami, Florida, November 30, 2025 (Terry Renna/AP)
EA on TVP World: Can US-Ukraine Talks Push Back Witkoff-Kushner Collusion With Kremlin?
I joined Times Radio’s Frontline on Monday for a 32-minute analysis of the battle between two outcomes for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
One is the ultimatum to Kyiv shaped by a collusion between the Kremlin, Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and US Vice President J.D. Vance.
The other is the European counter-proposal, crafted with Ukraine and relying on US Secretary of State’s Marco Rubio disagreement with the pro-Kremlin demands framed as a Trump “peace plan”.
I explain to Louis Sykes how the Russian ultimatum, first tabled in the spring, finally produced a meeting between Vladimir Putin’s top economic advisor Kirill Dmitriev with Witkoff and Kushner in last October.
The key motive? The Kremlin’s proposal of joint US-Russian economic projects, including those from which members of the Trump camp could profit.
Rubio, using Congressional contacts, undermined the ultimatum. And that gave Ukraine and the Europeans the opportunity to focus on a ceasefire on current frontlines, followed by negotiation rather than capitulation.
But what happens when Witkoff and Kushner are welcomed by Putin in the Kremlin on Tuesday? Will the Americans set aside the interest in profits and push the ceasefire, or will they again embrace the invader and wanted war criminal?
