Witkoff talked to Putin while negotiating with Ukraine – NYT

Politics at the golf club

While Trump was reaching an agreement with Putin on diesel, the US, Ukrainian and European representatives were holding a meeting. The Ukrainians put forward their proposal, the Europeans presented theirs, and then Witkoff — who had the authority to speak on behalf of the entire United States — walked out of the room saying, "Don't rush, gentlemen, I'll be right back." Guess where he went? He joined his conversation with Trump as a third person to hear what Putin had to say!

The discussion of an issue affecting the lives of all humanity was held not in any official institution, not even in a local government building, but at a private golf club in Miami. It's hard to believe, but this is what the diplomacy of the world's most powerful state, the US, looks like right now.

According to the New York Times, a newspaper that loves sharing insider reports from its "sources in intelligence," a meeting was held on Friday at Mr. Witkoff's golf club in Miami with the participation of representatives of the US, Ukraine and Europe. On the US side, naturally, Trump's friend Witkoff and his Jewish son-in-law Kushner took part. On the European side, there were the national security advisers of the leaders of Germany, France and Britain, as well as high-ranking officials from the European Union and NATO.

During the meeting, the Ukrainians presented their proposals on ending the war, and the Europeans also outlined the plan they had prepared. And at that moment, Mr. Witkoff apologized to the guests and left the room. The talks lasted 6 hours, Witkoff is pushing 70 — don't rush to guess where he went; it's not about the break you're imagining. The chief negotiator joined his conversation with Trump as a third person to hear what Russian President Putin had to say.

From the NYT report, one might think Trump was also at the golf club, but that was not the case. Witkoff was connected online from Miami to the conversation between Trump at the White House and Putin in the Kremlin. Wow — a third person was conferenced into a conversation between the world's two most powerful offices from a golf club in Miami. Just like classmates adding each other to a call back when mobile communication was just developing decades ago.

Putin and Trump talked for the duration of a football match. The Americans agreed to buy diesel from Russia "to give Zelensky a shout." Having heard all this, Witkoff returned to the room and said, "Gentlemen, here's the deal that was reached: sanctions on Russia have been lifted, and now we'll be getting 'solyarka' (diesel) from them." Just imagine the state the Ukrainian delegation was in when they heard this.