Trump's Special Envoy 'Russia is the Future Alliance' US-Russia-North Korea Approach North Korea-US May 'Moscow Summit'
Trump's special envoy to Russia said 'Russia is the Future Alliance', the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament demanded 'the dismissal of the special envoy', and the US-Russia-North Korea are showing the possibility of a North Korea-US summit in Moscow in May due to a strategic approach.
Steve Witkoff, who went from being Trump's special envoy for the Middle East to special envoy for Russia, poured out terms praising Putin's favorite topics in an interview with MAGA (Make America Great Again) podcaster Tucker Carlson.
Moscow’s May Victory Day Ceremony Shows Strategic Push for a Possible Trump-Kim Summit.
On the 11th, President Trump nominated Allison Hooker, former senior director of the NSC’s Asia Bureau who accompanied CIA Director Mike Pompeo on his first CIA-led visit to Pyongyang, as the State Department’s Under Secretary for Political Affairs.
Hooker was an analyst at the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research and was involved in the PyeongChang Olympics, the first and second North Korea-US summits and the Panmunjom meeting. The nominated Under Secretary for Political Affairs is expected to handle all regional and bilateral policy issues at the State Department, in preparation for the North Korea-US summit.
Witkov, in particular, supported the Russian “referendum” in four major Ukrainian regions as a basis for his “pro-Russian” stance, and said in his conversation with Carlson that the elections were “legitimate” and that “Ukraine wants to be under Russian occupation,” adding that “there was a referendum in which the overwhelming majority of the Ukrainian people expressed their desire to be under Russian rule.”
Oleksandr Merezhko, chairman of the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, told Ukrainian media on Monday that Witkov should be fired. “This is an extremely shameful and shocking statement. He is a propaganda agent for Russia,” Merezhko continued. “I have a question. Who is he? "Is he Trump's envoy or Putin's envoy?" he told Ukrainian media, the New York Times reported on the 24th.
The New York Times said that when Witkoff said "legitimate elections," "these regions are widely known to be rigged, with voters threatened with torture and deportation if they vote the wrong way," and "But Witkoff spoke as if the elections were legitimate."
The New York Times reported that Witkoff said that "Putin does not want to take over all of Ukraine," and that "what Russia wants is 'stability there,'" just three years after Russian troops poured into Ukraine and attempted to overthrow the government.
"I thought he was being honest with me," he said. "Why would they want to absorb Ukraine?" he asked Carlson, and then "For what purpose, exactly? They don’t need to absorb Ukraine.” “What Russia wants is stability there,” he said, praising Putin, a longtime enemy of the United States, and “I thought he was being honest with me.”
Witkoff went on to say that the idea of peacekeeping was “a combination of postures” by America’s closest NATO allies, and that “this view was born out of a set of ideas that ‘we should all be like Winston Churchill, and the Russian army will march across Europe.’”
The Trump administration, which has suddenly turned from being the most powerful adversary to an “ally,” has been “the most confusing reversal in Washington these days,” the New York Times said, pointing out the security chaos.
Now, President Trump is refusing to acknowledge the obvious fact that Russia invaded Ukraine.
Trump is directly attempting to normalize relations between the United States and Russia, and this is causing some Europeans to The leaders have publicly challenged the idea.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the New York Times on the 23rd, “I don’t trust Putin,” and “I’m sure Putin will insist that Ukraine be defenseless after the negotiations.”
The former human rights lawyer and Labour politician who became prime minister is now struggling to prevent the collapse of the alliance between Europe and the United States that has existed since World War II.
“We know in our hearts that this moment has been coming since the Russian tanks crossed the Ukrainian border three years ago,” Starmer told the Times, referring to Europe’s heightened vulnerability and tensions in the NATO alliance. “We need to see this as a provocative moment and take the lead,” he said.
Special envoy Witkoff, a longtime Trump friend and real estate developer, said in a conversation with MAGA activist Carlson, “We can share the sea lanes, maybe ship LNG gas together to Europe, maybe work together on artificial intelligence.” After imagining a ceasefire deal in which Russia would take over the Ukrainian lands it currently occupies and Ukraine would be guaranteed never to join NATO, he said, “Who wouldn’t want to see that?” Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told the Times that the comments by Witkoff and others in the Trump administration were “deeply disturbing to the intelligence community,” adding, “If you grew up in intelligence, knowing all the horrible things Vladimir Putin has done, and then suddenly you change your stance and completely side with Russia, how can you understand that?” The Times’ Berlin correspondent reported on the 21st that “President Trump and his administration now see Europe as the enemy, NATO as a burden, and Russia as a friend,” adding that “Vice President J.D. Vance and Elon Musk have expressed support for a far-right party of neo-Nazis who are working to weaken the German government and support Russia’s goals in Ukraine.” The article continued, “Germany, perhaps more than any other country in Europe, has felt adrift, orphaned, even betrayed by its closest ally,” and “yet if the Germans have been pushed out of the nest, they have begun to respond with deep soul-searching and questions about themselves and the future of Europe.”
“The rift with Washington is already serious, with urgent and far-reaching consequences,” said Norbert Röttgen, a member of the center-right Christian Democrats party in Germany. “This is the end of the European peace order,” he told the Times. “We have come to the conclusion that we must take responsibility for the security of Europe ourselves. This is an emergency, because there is a war going on in Europe.”
Germany, a defeated nation in World War II, adopted the U.S. Constitution and democracy to escape Nazi militarism, and with about 35,000 U.S. troops stationed in Germany, it is a model of high economic growth supported by U.S. security support for its oil industry.
Russian President Putin's security adviser Sergei Shoigu discussed Ukraine with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on the 21st, Tass reported.
Regarding the Pyongyang meeting, Reuters reported on the 21st that "dialogue between Russia and the United States was one of the issues discussed with Kim Jong-un, Shoigu told reporters," and that "Shoigu's visit to Pyongyang came after Putin recently agreed to temporarily halt attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities but did not support a 30-day full ceasefire proposed by U.S. President Trump."
Newsis reported on the 22nd that "Russian State Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu, who visited North Korea, met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on the 21st and expressed gratitude for North Korea's support for Russia's war in Ukraine."
AP reported on the 22nd that "Secretary Shoigu's visit may be related to Kim Jong-un's preparations for a visit to Russia in May to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II."
At the South Korea-China-Japan foreign ministers’ meeting on the 22nd, Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol said, “Military cooperation between North Korea and Russia must cease, and North Korea should not be compensated for its mistakes in ending the war in Ukraine.” He added, “It is important that South Korea, Japan, and China faithfully implement UN sanctions against North Korea, stop North Korea’s provocations, and make efforts to achieve complete denuclearization.”