Trump shot himself in the foot. Ukraine too. Why are their closest people stuck at their feet today? They are the ones who can bury the peace [OPINIA]

Where does Witkoff get such leeway with Trump? The two men met in 1986 in a Manhattan deli and have been friends ever since. Trump sees the Washington experience as a liability and Witkoff as someone whose negotiating skills equal him.

Rubio is a shrewd foreign policy professional. While Witkoff handles the negotiations, Rubio provides the helm in the White House's constant foreign policy storms.

Chaos in a suit

It is said in the intelligence community that “we have stopped many attacks you will never hear about.” We may never know how many foreign policy disasters Rubio prevented.

Witkoff, on the other hand, cannot critically analyze what every Russian he has just met says.

He thinks Putin is a nice guy who wants peace so we can all get back to doing business together.

So what's all the fuss about?

In an interview with Tucker Carlson, Witkoff was unable to recall the names of three Ukrainian regions that he wanted to give to the Russians.

During another meeting, he forgot to bring a pencil, his trusted translator, and anything else that might help him understand what was happening. Witkoff appeared to claim that Putin was ready to withdraw from two regions of Ukraine he occupied.

Putin wasn't ready.

The dramatic turn towards peace turned out to be one of the greatest diplomatic blunders in history. Trump paused sanctions against Russia and rolled out the red carpet for Putin in Anchorage, only to hear Putin give a long lecture on Yaroslav the Wise and Kievan Rus.

It quickly turned out that Putin was not offering to withdraw troops, but was in fact suggesting that Kiev should give in and withdraw.

Witkoff is obsessed with giving back the “Russian-speaking” parts of Ukraine. He said it many times. The Ukraine Freedom Project survey shows that 99.2 percent Ukrainians, regardless of the language they speak, responded with something other than “I actually prefer to live under Russian rule.”

This 0.8 percent that's about a quarter of a million people. Maybe we will just send them to Russia instead of letting Putin take over the strategically important areas of Donbas? Witkoff should bring this up with Dmitriev the next time they relax by the rooftop pool in Miami.

These are just a few examples of his gaffes. However, despite his shortcomings, Witkoff remains an important figure in these negotiations.

The head of the office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, during a meeting with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff. New York, USA, August 29, 2025HANDOUT/AFP/East News / East News

Diplomatic ball and chain

The Ukrainian negotiating team is led by Andriy Yermak — probably the least favorite Ukrainian in Washington.

In June this year, POLITICO published an article containing 14 bipartisan sources who spoke unfavorably about Yermak. Criticism articles often appear in Washington, but you have to try very hard to find so many sources and with such anecdotes.

From the article: “Yet many in Washington believe that Yermak has no knowledge of American politics, is abrasive and overly demanding of American officials — and is generally unable to navigate the internal structures of the Washington establishment on Capitol Hill.”

Yermak was called a “bipartisan irritant” by an American source and an “existential burden” by a Ukrainian source.

Yes, let's send him back to meet the Americans.

In helping build support for Ukraine among American conservatives, I often refer to Winston Churchill, who [już w 1940 r. — w czasie gdy Wielka Brytania samotnie stawiała opór Hitlerowi po upadku Francji] he employed thousands of people to put pressure on President Franklin D. Roosevelt and get him to send weapons and provide real support to England.

In response to the POLITICO article, Jermak said: — I have no ambition to fully understand how American politics works: I come to talk about the country I know best, Ukraine.

Ukraine needs someone who can really understand American politics and be able to navigate it.

Yermak does not have this ambition – and Ukraine is paying a high price for it.

Churchill was so committed to getting American weapons to England that he encouraged his 20-year-old daughter-in-law Pamela to pursue affairs with American generals and diplomats while his son Randolph was in North Africa. Pamela would get out of bed with the American diplomat, take a taxi to Downing Street and tell Churchill what she had learned. Her biographer said: “She was his secret weapon.”

This damaged his relationship with his son forever, but to Churchill, England was more important than Randolph.

Meanwhile, Yermak failed to stop one of his closest people from embezzling money intended to protect the power grid – or, less diplomatically, failed to keep the matter from coming to light.

Zelensky puts a lot of trust in Yermak, just like Trump does in Witkoff.

Some believe that the disclosure of this plan was a Russian information operation timed to coincide with the Energoatom scandal. I find this likely.

The corruption scandal was a hammer that Yermak handed to the Russians to use against Ukraine at a time of their choosing. This moment has now arrived. Perhaps there are more hammers like this.

Billions are lying around. The war continues

Currently, Ukraine is struggling with USD 53 billion. [ponad 193 mld zł] budget deficit and lacks anti-aircraft weapons. Both of these problems constitute an existential crisis.

You can't win a war by asking for money on one hand and keeping your hand in the bank on the other.

Witkoff's peace plan envisages the use of $100 billion. [ok. 365 mld zł] Russia's frozen assets to finance Ukraine's reconstruction, with the United States receiving 50 percent. profits. Europeans are outraged and, as usual, their outrage is selective.

Belgium could immediately change the course of the war thanks to its assets worth approximately $200 billion. [ok. 731 mld zł]but so far the Belgians have only used this money to tax them, amounting to approximately $3 billion. [ok. 11 mld zł]. The United States does not need to profit from frozen Russian assets, but The Belgians are doing quite well.

On December 19, European officials will meet in Belgium to discuss the $163 billion loan. [ok. 595 mld zł] based on frozen Russian assets. With a multi-billion dollar source of income on one side of the equation and an angry Russian dictator on the other, The Belgians do not have many reasons to give up their Russian assets. The Energoatom scandal puts Ukraine in a better moral situation.

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Republicans are waking up

Until recently, attacking Ukraine mobilized the Republican electorate. Today this rhetoric has lost its power. Putin has proven to be a threat to Republicans.

According to a survey by the Ukraine Freedom Project, 92 percent Republicans are concerned about the incursion of Russian drones into Europe. Moreover, 76 percent fears that Russia or China might attack the United States.

Paradoxically, it was Putin's actions that caused Trump voters' support for providing military aid to Ukraine to reach its highest level in three years.

The Vandenberg Coalition poll shows that only 16 percent Republicans believe that Ukraine should give up the territory. More generally, America has just put up over $100 billion. [ok. 365 mld zł] for the expansion of the Ukrainian army into the largest in Europe. Witkoff's plan wants to give that back.

Republican members of Congress need Ukraine to succeed. Foreign policy rarely determines the outcome of an election, but an embarrassing defeat like the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2021 — which ended with the Taliban's rapid takeover of power — would be a political disaster for Republicans.

The success of any peace agreement depends on Putin keeping his word.

It does not help that the Russian president is currently violating 46 international agreements, including at least 26 ceasefire agreements with Ukraine in 2014–2021.

The longest ceasefire before civilians were killed was the ceasefire of July 27, 2020 — it lasted approximately three months.

Regardless of how the peace plan is formulated, Putin will not stop fighting until someone forces him to do so.