@IneBackIversen: 1: Let’s talk about Steve Witkoff, because I think the narrative of him being a “useful idiot” is a dangerous trap to walk in. It’s darker than that. Witkoff has spent three decades s...

US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, fresh from the triumph of the Gaza peace deal, held a phone call last month with a senior Kremlin official to suggest they work together on a similar plan for Ukraine — and that Vladimir Putin should raise it with Donald Trump.

‘No deal is perfect, but it must be done sooner rather than later,’ says US army secretary in sombre meeting US officials have told Nato allies they expect to push president Volodymyr Zelenskyy into agreeing to a peace deal in the coming days, under the threat that if Kyiv does not sign, it will face a much worse deal in future. The US army secretary Dan Driscoll briefed ambassadors from Nato nations at a meeting in Kyiv late on Friday, after talks with Zelenskyy and taking a phone call from the White House. “No deal is perfect, but it must be done sooner rather than later,” he told them, according to one person who was present. Continue reading...