At RedState, we’ve been following the slow but promising progress of the Russia–Ukraine peace talks. The latest updates have actually given Americans something rare these days: cautious optimism. The fighting continues — sadly — but at last, there might be a glimmer of light at the end of this long, tragic tunnel.
Yet, right on cue from Washington, D.C., we get the familiar drip, drip, drip of leaks coming from inside the process. And frankly, if someone were deliberately trying to sabotage these peace efforts, I’m not sure what they’d be doing differently. It’s almost like some people just can’t tolerate the idea of President Trump pulling off a historic diplomatic win. Imagine that.
Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East and for peace negotiations, has been doing exactly what he was appointed to do — legally, by the way. Conversations between key negotiators discussing strategy, tone, and approach are not just normal; they are necessary. So why leak this? And no, while the leak could have originated on the Russian side, it’s hard to imagine what they would gain from it. Nothing about this smells like Moscow. It smells a lot more like… well, Washington.
So let’s ask the real questions: Why now? To what end? And who benefits from harming peace talks that could end the worst European war since 1945?
Would swamp creatures still burrowed deep inside the Executive Branch really be so desperate to damage the Trump administration that they’d risk derailing peace negotiations? Honestly, after everything we’ve seen these past years, it’s not exactly a stretch. These are the same people who will sabotage anything — and anyone — connected to President Trump if it means protecting their own power.
Peace negotiations between countries with a bloody and painful history require delicate, high-level conversations. The larger and stronger nation is led by a man who has amassed more personal power than anyone since Josef Stalin, and whose original aim was almost certainly to take all of Ukraine, not just the Russian-speaking regions. That’s the geopolitical puzzle President Trump’s team is trying to solve. And for that, negotiators have to talk, brainstorm alternatives, and understand the personalities and ambitions of leaders on both sides.
What this leak reveals is simple: someone wants to throw a wrench into the works.
Is it someone on the American side, terrified that President Trump might secure a massive foreign policy victory? Or is it someone on the Russian side who prefers the bloodshed to continue? My money’s on the former — because we’ve already seen just how far the Deep State will go to undermine anything tied to Trump.
It’s not just leakers, either. That’s another reason this reeks of an American insider. Even the Secretary of State publicly blasted a “fake news” story from NBC about these negotiations — which tells you everything you need to know about how badly the media and the bureaucracy want to control the narrative.
If a peace deal is eventually finalized — if the Russo-Ukrainian War finally ends, even temporarily — the credit will go to the Trump administration’s work, persistence, and leadership. And now it’s painfully obvious that if this peace becomes reality, it will happen despite the Deep State’s best efforts, not because of them.
