- Category
- World
White House Considers Replacing Peace Envoys Witkoff and Kushner With CIA Director Ratcliffe
Prefer U24 Media on Google
- Authors
![Photo of Katherina Popilnichenko]( "Photo of Katherina Popilnichenko")
-c439b7bd9030ecf9d5a4287dc361ba31.jpg "Photo of Katherina Popilnichenko")
The White House is considering stepping back the involvement of special envoy Steve Witkoff and representative Jared Kushner in negotiations, as reported by Financial Times on September 9.
Five people familiar with the plans stated that Washington may shift the lead diplomatic role to CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
We bring you stories from the ground. Your support keeps our team in the field.
American officials close to Ratcliffe informed European counterparts that the CIA director is preparing to take charge of shuttle diplomacy efforts while maintaining existing channels with Russian and Ukrainian intelligence services.
The White House and the CIA declined to comment on the matter, and sources noted that President Donald Trump has not finalized a decision. The potential change follows eight visits to Moscow and one to Kyiv by Witkoff, which yielded no diplomatic progress.
During their previous meeting with the envoys, Russian leader Vladimir Putin expressed confidence in the mediation process, stating, “Here, of course, the quality of mediation, trust in those involved in it, is very important. I want to tell you that it is comfortable for us to work with you, and, of course, the level of trust in the course of this work on our part is quite high.”
At the same time, sources involved in informal contacts indicated that Moscow expressed openness to a new diplomatic approach.
Officials in Ukraine and individuals familiar with Kremlin views noted that Moscow held Witkoff partly responsible for the lack of progress at the August 2025 summit in Alaska, where expectations of potential Russian compromises were not met. Meanwhile, officials in Kyiv felt that Witkoff did not exert sufficient pressure on Moscow.
On August 25, CIA Director John Ratcliffe arrived in Moscow for unannounced meetings, marking the first trip by a CIA chief to Russia since November 2021. The visit followed an August 1 announcement by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio regarding plans to explore resuming peace negotiations, after planned visits to Kyiv by envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner failed to materialize.
John Ratcliffe is a former federal prosecutor and Texas congressman who previously served as Director of National Intelligence. He is the first person in US history to hold both top intelligence positions after becoming CIA Director.
A three-hour meeting in Moscow between US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Vladimir Putin had ended without a breakthrough, leaving the Russian leader intent on continuing Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as reported by Bloomberg.
Putin had remained committed to capturing the entire Donetsk region, a goal he believed his forces could achieve within six months. Meanwhile, calculations by the Institute for the Study of War showed that Russian forces were advancing at a rate of 2.36 square kilometers per day, meaning it would have taken until October 2032 to control the remaining 19% of the region.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov noted that Putin might have held a phone call with Donald Trump, though he stated it was premature to discuss specific dates for resuming three-party talks. Following the Moscow visit, Witkoff traveled to Kyiv to meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European security advisers, later reporting substantial progress from those discussions.
Discuss this article:
-111f0e5095e02c02446ffed57bfb0ab1.jpeg "Photo of Roman Kohanets")
