CIA Director John Ratcliffe is preparing to take a more active role in US talks with Russia and Ukraine.
The White House is considering reducing the involvement of US special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, the Financial Times reports.
Officials close to Ratcliffe have confirmed to Europeans that he will take on a larger role in “shuttle diplomacy”, maintaining contacts with intelligence officials from both countries. The White House and the CIA declined to comment on the changes, as Trump has not yet made a final decision.
European capitals have welcomed the possible sidelining of Witkoff. The previous 18 months of talks have produced no results, as Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has refused to compromise on his demands. The US administration had planned to change its negotiating team as far back as late February, when earlier attempts to reach a peace deal failed. However, Trump’s attention was then diverted by the war in Iran.
Witkoff is likely to retain his post as the US special envoy for peace missions in the Middle East. However, a struggle for leadership on the Ukraine file is under way between him and Ratcliffe. Witkoff’s freewheeling approach, reminiscent of New York real-estate deals and dismissive of traditional diplomacy, has frustrated Russia, Ukraine and Western allies. Kyiv believed he did not put enough pressure on Putin, while Moscow partly blamed him for the failure of this year’s summit with Trump in Alaska.
When Ratcliffe unexpectedly visited Moscow in late August, where he discussed with the Russian side the wars in Ukraine and Iran as well as hybrid threats to Europe, Trump described the trip as “semi-routine”. But Ukrainian intelligence told Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Ratcliffe was taking over the leading role in US peace efforts.
Putin initially planned to meet Ratcliffe, but cancelled the conversation after the CIA director voiced a pessimistic assessment of Moscow’s military efforts.
A week after Ratcliffe’s trip, Witkoff and Kushner also flew to Moscow and Kyiv. They expressed optimism about resuming trilateral talks, although sources note that the Americans brought no new ideas and Putin showed no willingness to back down.
Meanwhile, Kushner told friends that he plans to step back from the Ukraine issue and focus on the conflicts in Gaza and the US and Israel’s war against Iran. Ukrainian officials stress that Kyiv has good working relationships with all three Americans. In their view, the problem lies solely with the Russians.
- The Wall Street Journal wrote that the CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s surprise visit to Moscow in August was intended to warn Russia against attacking NATO countries.