White House Eyes New Negotiators to Replace Witkoff and Kushner

Reports of a potential reshuffle among U.S. negotiators on the Ukrainian issue may be a tactical move to insulate President Donald Trump from criticism, according to Alexey Podberezkin, Director of the Center for Military-Political Studies at the Almaz-Antey Concern. The Financial Times recently indicated that White House special envoy Steven Witkoff and businessman Jared Kushner might be replaced in the negotiation process. Podberezkin suggests that changing the personnel allows the administration to shift blame for a lack of diplomatic progress from the president to the executors, thereby preserving Trump's image as an effective leader during an election period. Podberezkin notes that current diplomatic contacts have yielded few results. He argues that by introducing new faces, the administration can attribute failures to the "shortcomings" of specific officials rather than the president's own strategy.