Sep 09, 2026
The White House is considering stepping back the involvement of special envoy Steve Witkoff and representative Jared Kushner in negotiations, as reported by Financial Times on September 9.
Five people familiar with the plans stated that Washington may shift the lead diplomatic role to CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
American officials close to Ratcliffe informed European counterparts that the CIA director is preparing to take charge of shuttle diplomacy efforts while maintaining existing channels with Russian and Ukrainian intelligence services.
The White House and the CIA declined to comment on the matter, and sources noted that President Donald Trump has not finalized a decision. The potential change follows eight visits to Moscow and one to Kyiv by Witkoff, which yielded no diplomatic progress.
During their previous meeting with the envoys, Russian leader Vladimir Putin expressed confidence in the mediation process, stating, “Here, of course, the quality of mediation, trust in those involved in it, is very important. I want to tell you that it is comfortable for us to work with you, and, of course, the level of trust in the course of this work on our part is quite high.”
At the same time, sources involved in informal contacts indicated that Moscow expressed openness to a new diplomatic approach.
Officials in Ukraine and individuals familiar with Kremlin views noted that Moscow held Witkoff partly responsible for the lack of progress at the August 2025 summit in Alaska, where expectations of potential Russian compromises were not met. Meanwhile, officials in Kyiv felt that Witkoff did not exert sufficient pressure on Moscow.
On August 25, CIA Director John Ratcliffe arrived in Moscow for unannounced meetings, marking the first trip by a CIA chief to Russia since November 2021. The visit followed an August 1 announcement by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio regarding plans to explore resuming peace negotiations, after planned visits to Kyiv by envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner failed to materialize.
John Ratcliffe is a former federal prosecutor and Texas congressman who previously served as Director of National Intelligence. He is the first person in US history to hold both top intelligence positions after becoming CIA Director.
A three-hour meeting in Moscow between US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Vladimir Putin had ended without a breakthrough, leaving the Russian leader intent on continuing Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as reported by Bloomberg.
Putin had remained committed to capturing the entire Donetsk region, a goal he believed his forces could achieve within six months. Meanwhile, calculations by the Institute for the Study of War showed that Russian forces were advancing at a rate of 2.36 square kilometers per day, meaning it would have taken until October 2032 to control the remaining 19% of the region.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov noted that Putin might have held a phone call with Donald Trump, though he stated it was premature to discuss specific dates for resuming three-party talks. Following the Moscow visit, Witkoff traveled to Kyiv to meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European security advisers, later reporting substantial progress from those discussions.
I wish the MSM would refrain from calling this useful idiot a peace envoy.
If Wit-cough does get replaced by someone else, then this is due to Taco being jealous. Wit-cough’s extremely disgusting lick fest of Putler’s anus makes Taco worried his lover will drop him for Wit-cough.
Did you see the video of the meeting in Russia? Head orc slumped over side ways in his chair, totally uninterested, agitated with a scowl, bored. Very interesting… would love a body language expert’s take on it.
I saw it and I interpreted it the same way. This was Wi-cough’s 8th visit to mordor. They know what a servile ass licker he is and such a thing gets boring even for them.
I have a different theory. Those two clowns don’t know shit about diplomacy, let alone Russian history. Their only objective was a freakin hotel in Red Square. That was so obvious that there was enough worldwide press highlighting their stupidity that even the Chief Moron in the WH couldn’t take his unblemished reputation (ha) to be scarred. So now he has the two morons to blame for failure and of course President Zelensky
Jizz-off and the jew were an embarrassing clown show! 🤮