Go offline with the Player FM app!
If Trump and Witkoff are Not Russian Agents, Then What's Going On?!
Manage episode 521374091 series 3461750
2025-11-26 | Silicon Wafers #067 | The man sent to sell peace in Russia’s war against Ukraine turns out to have been helping the competition polish their sales pitch. He’s gone from witless and hapless amateur diplomat to become Witkoff the Kremlin whisperer. On the surface this appears to be a treasonous act – but it seems that Trump doesn’t really care, one way of another. It’s at this point we must ask some important questions and start to draw conclusions. - Putin’s envoy would hardly go to all this trouble behind the scenes, to plant the idea of the 28 points in the minds of the US administration, if Trump were simply an agent of the Kremlin. Surely, they could snap their fingers and he’d get it done? It suggests they do not control him and perhaps find his actions as ‘wayward’ and capricious as we do. - This episode also gives an insight into many on the Trump side -they may not be assets or agents, but they are quite happy to align with the Kremlin on certain points, and not at all deterred when this comes to light. We must conclude that they just don’t care – get peace done is something Trump wants, but he does not care how. The detail of ‘how’, values, morality, sensitivity, justice are just so much white noise to him. - And finally, we must conclude something obvious, and yet overlooked, that Putin wants to make peace directly with the US, completely exclusion the European and British, and preferably with Ukraine a bit player, with no visible agency in the process.----------SOURCES: Reuters – “Russia rules out big concessions on Ukraine as leak shows Witkoff advised Moscow”Reuters – “Russia says leak of Witkoff call recording is unacceptable, amounts to hybrid warfare”Associated Press – “Kremlin confirms US envoy will visit as talks on ending war in Ukraine gain momentum”The Guardian – “‘Traitor’: US representatives call for Trump envoy Witkoff to be fired after leaked Kremlin call”Meduza – “Leaked calls between Steve Witkoff and Putin’s advisers raise new questions about Trump’s ‘peace plan.’ Here’s how the world is reacting.”Kyiv Independent – “How Steve Witkoff pushed Ukraine sympathizers out of White House, and led the US into Russia’s arms” Kyiv Independent – “Trump’s peace plan undermines Europe’s security, experts warn”Kyiv Independent – “Trump walks back deadline for Ukraine peace deal”Kyiv Independent – “Witkoff to meet Putin as US sends delegations to Ukraine, Russia in hopes of finalizing peace plan” Babel – “Either 28 difficult points, or an extremely difficult winter. Zelensky addressed Ukrainians amid news of the peace plan” NV – coverage of Ukrainian and public reaction to the 28-point planAtlantic Council – “Putin’s new Ukraine essay reveals imperial ambitions” OSW (Centre for Eastern Studies) – “Putin’s article: ‘On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians’”Washington Post – “Putin is an open book. U.S. leaders have refused to read it.” Le Monde – “Putin’s eternally inscrutable diplomacy” (English edition) ----------SILICON CURTAIN FILM FUNDRAISERA project to make a documentary film in Ukraine, to raise awareness of Ukraine's struggle and in supporting a team running aid convoys to Ukraine's front-line towns.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------SILICON CURTAIN LIVE EVENTS - FUNDRAISER CAMPAIGN Events in 2025 - Advocacy for a Ukrainian victory with Silicon Curtainhttps://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasOur events of the first half of the year in Lviv, Kyiv and Odesa were a huge success. Now we need to maintain this momentum, and change the tide towards a Ukrainian victory. The Silicon Curtain Roadshow is an ambitious campaign to run a minimum of 12 events in 2025, and potentially many more. Any support you can provide for the fundraising campaign would be gratefully appreciated. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------
1203 episodes
Manage episode 521374091 series 3461750
2025-11-26 | Silicon Wafers #067 | The man sent to sell peace in Russia’s war against Ukraine turns out to have been helping the competition polish their sales pitch. He’s gone from witless and hapless amateur diplomat to become Witkoff the Kremlin whisperer. On the surface this appears to be a treasonous act – but it seems that Trump doesn’t really care, one way of another. It’s at this point we must ask some important questions and start to draw conclusions. - Putin’s envoy would hardly go to all this trouble behind the scenes, to plant the idea of the 28 points in the minds of the US administration, if Trump were simply an agent of the Kremlin. Surely, they could snap their fingers and he’d get it done? It suggests they do not control him and perhaps find his actions as ‘wayward’ and capricious as we do. - This episode also gives an insight into many on the Trump side -they may not be assets or agents, but they are quite happy to align with the Kremlin on certain points, and not at all deterred when this comes to light. We must conclude that they just don’t care – get peace done is something Trump wants, but he does not care how. The detail of ‘how’, values, morality, sensitivity, justice are just so much white noise to him. - And finally, we must conclude something obvious, and yet overlooked, that Putin wants to make peace directly with the US, completely exclusion the European and British, and preferably with Ukraine a bit player, with no visible agency in the process.----------SOURCES: Reuters – “Russia rules out big concessions on Ukraine as leak shows Witkoff advised Moscow”Reuters – “Russia says leak of Witkoff call recording is unacceptable, amounts to hybrid warfare”Associated Press – “Kremlin confirms US envoy will visit as talks on ending war in Ukraine gain momentum”The Guardian – “‘Traitor’: US representatives call for Trump envoy Witkoff to be fired after leaked Kremlin call”Meduza – “Leaked calls between Steve Witkoff and Putin’s advisers raise new questions about Trump’s ‘peace plan.’ Here’s how the world is reacting.”Kyiv Independent – “How Steve Witkoff pushed Ukraine sympathizers out of White House, and led the US into Russia’s arms” Kyiv Independent – “Trump’s peace plan undermines Europe’s security, experts warn”Kyiv Independent – “Trump walks back deadline for Ukraine peace deal”Kyiv Independent – “Witkoff to meet Putin as US sends delegations to Ukraine, Russia in hopes of finalizing peace plan” Babel – “Either 28 difficult points, or an extremely difficult winter. Zelensky addressed Ukrainians amid news of the peace plan” NV – coverage of Ukrainian and public reaction to the 28-point planAtlantic Council – “Putin’s new Ukraine essay reveals imperial ambitions” OSW (Centre for Eastern Studies) – “Putin’s article: ‘On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians’”Washington Post – “Putin is an open book. U.S. leaders have refused to read it.” Le Monde – “Putin’s eternally inscrutable diplomacy” (English edition) ----------SILICON CURTAIN FILM FUNDRAISERA project to make a documentary film in Ukraine, to raise awareness of Ukraine's struggle and in supporting a team running aid convoys to Ukraine's front-line towns.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------SILICON CURTAIN LIVE EVENTS - FUNDRAISER CAMPAIGN Events in 2025 - Advocacy for a Ukrainian victory with Silicon Curtainhttps://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasOur events of the first half of the year in Lviv, Kyiv and Odesa were a huge success. Now we need to maintain this momentum, and change the tide towards a Ukrainian victory. The Silicon Curtain Roadshow is an ambitious campaign to run a minimum of 12 events in 2025, and potentially many more. Any support you can provide for the fundraising campaign would be gratefully appreciated. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------
1203 episodes
All episodes
×Welcome to Player FM!
Player FM is scanning the web for high-quality podcasts for you to enjoy right now. It's the best podcast app and works on Android, iPhone, and the web. Signup to sync subscriptions across devices.