Representative Brian Fitzpatrick called for a change in strategy, describing on social media the Witkoff call as “a major problem. And one of the many reasons why these ridiculous side shows and secret meetings need to stop.”
Senator Mitch McConnell, the party’s former Senate leader, said Russia should not be rewarded. “A deal that rewards aggression wouldn’t be worth the paper it’s written on. America isn’t a neutral arbiter, and we shouldn’t act like one,” he said on X.
Trump later said progress was being made and Moscow was making concessions even though the war, in which Russian forces have been advancing, was only going to move “in one direction.”
But, while welcoming the Trump administration’s efforts, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters in Moscow on Wednesday: “There can be no question of any concessions, or any surrender of our approaches to those key points.”
TRANSCRIPT OF WITKOFF-USHAKOV CALL LEAKED
Moscow also raised concerns about the leak to Bloomberg News of the transcript of a call between Witkoff and Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, in which the US envoy advised Ushakov on how to pitch a peace plan to Trump.
Trump, on Air Force One, brushed aside a question from a reporter about why Witkoff appeared to be coaching Russian officials as “what a dealmaker does” and “a very standard form of negotiation”.
But Russia said the leak was an unacceptable attempt to undermine peace efforts and amounted to hybrid warfare.
Source: CNA
