"Credibility Destroyed," Even With Kremlin, Witkoff Is Now Threat To Talks

Ukraine never trusted him and many important Europeans doubted both his ability and his honesty, but now even the Kremlin must wonder if Trump's special envoy and 'useful idiot,' Steve Witkoff, really has any value as a go-between since the leaked phone call of his blatant support for Russian positions. 

The problem is that this situation reduces his value because there is no longer an pretense that he is an impartial, objective interlocutor. For whatever reason: admiration of Putin's ruthlessness and power or, more darkly as has been subjected, because he has been laundering Russian oligarchs' money through US real estate deals and wants more, Witkoff has made his pro-Russian sentiments clear. As a result he can no long be believed by the Ukrainians and Europeans, which means his usefulness to the Kremlin as a subtle vehicle for Russian positions is diminished. Even Trump may have to reconsider his efficacy. The implication is that as long as he remains involved, this latest set of peace negotiations will fail. JL

Alex Raufoglu reports in the Kyiv Post:

William Taylor, who served as the US ambassador in Kyiv under multiple administrations, 
said the leaked transcript of Witkoff’s Oct. 14 phone call with Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov – in which Witkoff offers tactical advice on how Vladimir Putin should approach Trump – has destroyed the envoy’s credibility. Witkoff “never had much credibility with the Ukrainians” and “didn’t have a lot of credibility in a lot of parts of Europe,” but now “has definitely lost credibility, even with the Russians, since the transcript of his conversations was leaked.” Whether Witkoff can credibly deliver any threats is now the central question hanging over his Moscow mission.

In a sharp rebuke that underscores the turbulence in President Donald Trump’s approach to ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, former US Ambassador to Ukraine warns that envoy Steve Witkoff is heading into Moscow next week with his credibility “absolutely” in tatters, delivering a blunt assessment as the diplomatic firestorm around the real-estate-developer-turned-envoy intensified.

In an interview with the Kyiv Post on Wednesday, William Taylor, who served as the US ambassador in Kyiv under multiple administrations, said the leaked transcript of Witkoff’s Oct. 14 phone call with top Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov – in which Witkoff discusses pro-Moscow peace terms and offers tactical advice on how Vladimir Putin should approach Trump – has effectively destroyed the envoy’s credibility.

 

“He has absolutely lost his credibility,” Taylor said. Witkoff, he added, “never had much credibility with the Ukrainians” and “didn’t have a lot of credibility in a lot of parts of Europe,” but now “has definitely lost credibility, maybe even with the Russians, since the transcript of his conversations was leaked.”

 

A plan ‘drafted by Russians’

Taylor said the leaked call not only exposed Witkoff’s alignment with Russian messaging but also clarified the origins of the controversial 28-point peace proposal Witkoff had circulated inside the administration.We now see from that phone call where the 28-point plan came from. It clearly came from the Russians,” Taylor said.

 

“The plan, he explained, was “suggested by Witkoff and drafted by the Russians, and then presented back to Witkoff.”

“As everybody knows, it was discarded because it was so pro-Russian,” he added. Its contents aligned neatly with Moscow’s interests for an obvious reason: “It was drafted by them.”

Taylor also pointed out that the transcript showed Witkoff urging Ushakov to have Putin call Trump the day before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s White House visit – a suggestion Taylor said was “welcomed, obviously, by the Russians.”

 

Lawmakers break with Trump

The diplomatic fallout is now being matched in Washington by a wave of public criticism from Republican lawmakers typically aligned with an assertive posture toward Russia.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) called the leak a “major problem” and blasted the administration’s “ridiculous side shows and secret meetings,” urging that Secretary of State Marco Rubio be allowed to “do his job in a fair and objective manner.”

Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) demanded Witkoff’s immediate firing, writing that the envoy “fully favors the Russians” and “cannot be trusted to lead these negotiations.”

Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu called Witkoff “an actual traitor.”

Trump, however, defended his envoy, saying Witkoff was simply acting as a “dealmaker” and arguing he was “saying the same thing to Ukraine.”

The White House is dispatching Witkoff to Moscow for talks with Putin, even as congressional criticism mounts.

 

28-point plan ‘dead,’ 19-point plan must move forward

Despite the credibility crisis, Taylor urged Washington, Kyiv and European partners not to abandon diplomacy – but to refocus it.

“The 28-point plan is dead,” he told Kyiv Post. The alternative Rubio-backed 19-point plan, he added, is the only viable foundation for negotiations now underway.

Taylor said he has not seen the full text himself, but that “the Ukrainians and Europeans who have seen it are basically okay with it,” with only a few “final little decisions” remaining.

Unlike the Russian-drafted proposal, he said, the new plan “doesn’t take NATO off the table” and “doesn’t make major cuts in the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”

“That is the plan that I think Ukrainians should push for, and the Americans should push for, and the Europeans should push for,” he said – and the one Witkoff must now try to sell to Putin.

‘Leverage’ to press Putin

The former Ambassador warned that Witkoff cannot go to Moscow empty-handed. “He’s got a hard job,” Taylor said, adding, “Witkoff is going to need his boss – President Trump – to give him leverage to use in this argument.”

That leverage must be both economic and military, he said.

On sanctions, Taylor pointed to the administration’s recent moves against Lukoil and Rosneft, saying Witkoff should be able to warn Moscow that “there’s more of that to come.”

On weapons, he said Witkoff must be empowered to tell the Kremlin the US is prepared to provide long-range missiles to Ukraine.

‘Very clear’ next steps if Putin says ‘nyet’

If Moscow rejects the 19-point plan, Taylor said, Washington and Europe must escalate sharply.

“The next step is very clear,” he said: the US and its allies should crack down on the shadow fleet, lower the oil price cap to Europe’s level, supply Ukraine with long-range missiles, and free up the $300 billion in Russian Central Bank assets to sustain Ukraine for the next three years.

Whether Witkoff can credibly deliver any of those threats is now the central question hanging over his Moscow mission.

And inside the administration, officials privately admit that if he stumbles, the entire strategy could unravel before Trump even gets a chance to reset it.