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The Money Phase – Emissary Witkoff Updates on Ukraine/Russia Peace Negotiations

If we read between the lines in the latest update from President Trump emissary Steve Witkoff, we can clearly see the negotiations have entered into that critical phase where payments to all of the stakeholders will determine a successful outcome.

Pragmatic people have long predicted the ultimate solution to the bloodshed will only be determined once western interests get to the point where negotiators propose a long-term plan for continued financial benefit.  Too many people, “stakeholders” are making money from the conflict.

From a western perspective, support for the Ukraine conflict is based on money. Therefore, the solution to the conflict requires a system where the western opportunity for financial benefit continues.

Written in polite diplomatic terms, the continued payments are identified as “the prosperity agenda which aims to support Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction, joint U.S.–Ukraine economic initiatives, and long-term recovery projects.” This is codespeak for the U.S. Senate and EU will retain a financial mechanism to exploit for personal benefit.

From the language it appears that Witkoff and Kusher are confident they can construct a financial reward system for western banks, investors, politicians and Ukraine officials that will retain the benefits of war without the ancillary ingredient of bloodshed.

If the U.S. delegation can pull this off, then Russia can gain the territory they want, corrupt Ukraine officials can keep skimming investment money, the EU can retain the power it wants to extract financial payments, American politicians can use the “long-term recovery projects” for money laundering and quasi-public/private investment banks can benefit from the exploitation of Ukraine resources.

Again, from a ‘western geopolitical perspective’, the territorial issues, security guarantees, EU membership status and the position of NATO are downstream details once the larger payment system is organized.  Put another way, they are down to the stuff that really matters, the money.

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Canadian Media Catch On, U.S Trade Rep Jamieson Greer Says Trump Likely to Exit the USMCA (CUSMA)

In the world of Trumpian geopolitical trade stuff, three issues are very interesting to watch. (1) The strategic reset with Russia which could break the official western construct of financial control. (2) The proactive and defensive positioning of Mexico (desperate attempt to retain economic attachment), and (3) the certain dissolution of the USMCA what Canadians call CUSMA.

Canadian media are starting to realize something we have talked about on these pages for years; President Trump intends to end the USMCA because the USMCA was used as a fracture point to eliminate NAFTA.

Wall Street, the U.S. Congress, the massive K-Street lobbying network around the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the entire political apparatus of business and industry would never permit the end to NAFTA; too many trillions at stake. So, President Trump replaced NAFTA with the interim USMCA, which was better but factually more useful in elimination of the original.

Now, as we have discussed by highlighting President Trump’s no-so-subtle words on the issue, the Canadian media is realizing the USMCA will be dissolved in favor of two independently negotiated bilateral trade agreements; one with Canada and one with Mexico.

(CTV) – U.S. President Donald Trump could decide next year to withdraw from the Canada-United States-Mexico trade agreement (CUSMA), Politico reported on Thursday, citing U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.

“The president’s view is he only wants deals that are a good deal. The reason why we built a review period into CUSMA was in case we needed to revise it, review it or exit it,” Greer told Politico’s White House bureau chief Dasha Burns in a podcast episode that airs Friday.

Greer also raised the idea of negotiating separately with Canada and Mexico and dividing the agreement into two parts in the podcast, adding that he spoke with Trump about that possibility just this week.

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Leaked Transcript of EU Conference Call with Zelenskyy Highlights Fear of Trump Securing Peace for Ukraine

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Paris talking to Emmanuel Macron last weekend while Rubio, Witkoff and Kushner were meeting with Ukraine officials in Florida.  This telephone call is reported to have taken place the following day, on Monday.

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy together with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and European Council President António Costa held a conference call.

A transcript of the call was leaked to Spiegel, a German news outlet. According to the narrative the assembled group of EU leaders were discussing how the Trump administration was going to betray Ukraine in order to get a peace deal with Russia. The gist of the narrative sounds accurate, though some of the EU leaders are denying the specifics of the wording used.

EUROPE – “There is a possibility that the U.S. will betray Ukraine on the issue of territory without clarity on security guarantees,” Macron said, according to Spiegel, adding there was “a great danger” for Zelenskyy. The Élysée did not immediately respond to POLITICO’s request for comment. Spiegel reported the Élysée denied in a statement to the German outlet that Macron spoke of any betrayal. “The president did not use those words,” Macron’s office said, per Spiegel.

Merz chimed in that Zelenskyy had to be “extremely careful in the coming days.”

“They are playing games, both with you and with us,” Merz said, seemingly referring to Washington’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — the son-in-law of American President Donald Trump — who spent five hours locked in talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio Discusses Immigration Vetting, Venezuela Situation and Ukraine-Russia Conflict

Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio appears on Fox News for an extensive interview about current events. Within the interview Secretary Rubio discusses the current status of immigration vetting and the pause therein.

Additionally, Rubio outlines the current state of the U.S. operation in/around Venezuela and the ongoing negotiations with Ukraine and Russia to end the conflict in Eastern Europe. WATCH:

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Videos Worth Watching – President Trump asked About Witkoff and Kushner Visiting Moscow

President Trump was asked about the Witkoff and Kusher trip to Moscow, Russia as negotiations for an end to the conflict are ongoing.  President Trump noted he had not yet heard from the emissary duo, as he is spending time with media, answering questions and being the most transparent administration in history [Video Here].

In the contextual background, Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov and Special Presidential Representative for Investment and Economic Cooperation with Foreign Countries, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Kirill Dmitriev spent time walking through Moscow center city with Trump Emissaries Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.  This is before the meeting with Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin.

This move is typical Putin.  It’s not a negative per se’, but rather an emphatic narrative contrast intended to draw attention to a Russian/American dichotomy.

This optical presentation was likely coordinated via Yury Ushakov and Steve Witkoff.  The optical message is psychological targeting; the city of Moscow -structural order, cleanliness, visual and representative Christmas holiday festival spirit- contrast and compared to the city of Washington DC, chaos, conflict and lack of social cohesion.

Traditional American intelligence review would be angered by what would be deemed psy-op manipulation; however, the reality of the situation doesn’t diminish just because the intent is to emphasize the contrast.

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Rubio, Witkoff and Kushner Meet Ukraine Officials in Florida for Discussion of Terms Before Witkoff Returns to Moscow Tuesday

On Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump emissaries Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with the Ukraine negotiating team in Florida to further discuss acceptable terms for a broader ceasefire and end to the war.

Still trying to recover from corruption charges against his senior presidential team, Volodymyr Zelenskyy was not at the talks. Instead, the Ukraine delegation was led by State Security Council Secretary Rustem Umerov, while Zelenskyy went to Paris for an emotional support session with Emmanuel Macron.

Secretary Rubio and Secretary Umerov spoke before and after their 5-hour negotiation session.  Secretary Rubio emphasized the main topic as securing the long-term future of Ukraine both from a security position and from an economic prosperity position.

This state security aspect comes as the Ukraine delegation is facing pressure to accept, they will lose most -if not all- of the Donbas region to Russia. “The end goal is obviously not just the end of the war. Obviously, that’s central and fundamental,” Rubio said. “It’s also about securing an end to the war that leaves Ukraine sovereign and independent and with an opportunity at real prosperity.”

In better-than-expected news, the EU is now saying they will not comply with any removal of sanctions against Russia.  If the U.S-Russia and Ukraine work out a negotiated settlement that permits legal or economic relief for Vladimir Putin, the European Union will not agree and will instead make up their own decision on the issues.

Europe is holding this position as a threat, because President Trump is not fully consulting with them on all the granular details.  However, this is the type of threat that is exactly beneficial to what appears to be the long-term strategy of Trump.

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No Intel Intercepts – Hungarian PM Viktor Orban Meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban not only represents a friendly European voice to the objectives of the Trump administration, but also Orban is a close personal friend of President Trump both in and out of office.

Trump and Orban have long held a very close relationship, including friendship with the family of First Lady Melania Trump.  They are all very close – Shinzo Abe-type close – both from the White House and time in Mar-a-Lago.

On November 7, 2025, Prime Minister Viktor Orban again visited President Trump in the White House, including dinner with the Trump cabinet.  Then, word of the Ukraine corruption scandal broke.

A week following the White House visit (November 14) Prime Minister Orban said, “The golden illusion of Ukraine is falling apart. A wartime mafia network with countless ties to President Zelensky has been exposed. The energy minister has already resigned, and the main suspect has fled the country. This is the chaos into which the Brusselian elite want to pour European taxpayers’ money, where whatever isn’t shot off on the front lines ends up in the pockets of the war mafia. Madness. Thank you, but we want no part of this.”

The direct and non-pretending remarks from Viktor Orban highlighted a sense of the issue carried by a majority of the commonsense people around Russia, Europe, America and the world in general.  However, soon thereafter, as President Trump, Steve Witkoff and Marco Rubio were delivering deliberate terms to finally end the conflict, the Western intelligence network leaked an intercepted phone call between Witkoff and Putin’s senior foreign policy advisor, Ushakov.

The intelligence apparatus, likely originating from the U.K., purposefully wanted to disrupt all this peaceful resolution effort. The conflict has both benefactors and beneficiaries that do not want peace, both here and in Europe.

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The Russian “Motherland”

A Russian person could not visit New York, Chicago and Los Angeles and then say they visited The United States and have an understanding of Americans.  They might think they understand, but any American would giggle at the notion.

Conversely, the same is true in Russia.  You cannot visit Moscow, St Petersburg and Kazan and think you have an understanding of Russians.  However, if you give yourself time, join in the daily tasks and challenges of ordinary Russians, you can easily discover some of the deeper stuff that really puts context on life in the Russian Federation.

Perhaps what follows is a different perspective.

It took a while, but I finally figured out what this phrase “the Motherland” is all about.

Let me start by sharing another phrase that almost every American will find familiar, yet virtually every Russian asked has no reference to comprehend: “you work for us.”

When talking to a federal, state or local government official in the United States and saying, “you work for us,” everyone listening would completely understand your sentiment.  However, in Russia that phrase is akin to asking a Martian for a canoe.   This is the way to understand “the motherland.”

Within Russia the social compact is organized around the premise (key word “premise“), that government is the mother figure within a family – and all of the citizens are children.   The government knows best.  The state engages in all facets, systems and structures as if they are the omnipotent mother who cares about the children.

Women, the generally forgotten sense of the word woman, are held in high esteem, and “Women’s Day” is the biggest holiday throughout the federation.

The people of Russia generally accept this system.  Generations and generations of compliant, well behaved, very structured and regimented ideology still permeates.  The muscle memory is deepest in the psychological muscles that run through generations.

Oddly, this social compact is understood, but only understood insofar as the Russian people do not have any other reference point, or alternative system that would enable them to see the deficit in the oppressive system that surrounds them.

The average Russian knows the “West” is different but doesn’t really know why the social system they see outside their window seemingly operates with well-organized randomness.  What is this efficiency within unbridled capitalism you speak of, and why would Americans be willing to give it up?

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Zelenskyy Fires the Head of His Presidential Office as Corruption Probe Continues – Widespread Skimming of Money Now Publicly Visible

Earlier this month Ukrainian businessman Tymur Mindich, co-owner of Kvartal 95 the Ukrainian TV production company Volodymyr Zelenskyy founded before he became president, fled the country as the NABU (National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine) announced results from a widespread corruption probe.

Money given to Ukraine for subsidies was being skimmed from the energy sector by several high-profile government and business officials. The NABU probe and raids on offices to discover document trails of the officials is ongoing.

Today, NABU officials raided the home of Andriy Yermak (pictured left), head of the Office of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Simultaneous with the raid, Zelenskyy announced the firing of Yermak from his office:

“There will be a reset of the Office of the President of Ukraine. The Head of the Office, Andriy Yermak, has submitted his resignation. I am grateful to Andriy for always representing Ukraine’s position on the negotiation track exactly as it should be represented. It has always been a patriotic position. But I want to eliminate any rumors and speculation.” (SOURCE)

As I shared earlier regarding the NABU investigation, I have personally seen these corrupt Ukraine characters (politicians and private sector oligarchs) in action, literally spending tens-of-thousands of U.S. taxpayer funds (in cash) at the Port of Montenegro while I was tracking them in 2023 and 2024.  They were staying in massive suites at the Regent Hotel, expensive boats and exotic cars with each. So please, don’t try to sell me on the honorable Ukraine politician schtick.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy is worried the Russians will use the corruption story to undermine his government, so he has spent the past two weeks on the phone with his U.K/USA and EU benefactors trying to keep the supportive money flowing while his government officials skim the funds.

However, notice how quiet the U.S. Senate has been on this explosive story about Ukraine officials being caught skimming money.  The Senate is quiet because almost two-thirds of the senators are taking money from the laundry operation [LIST HERE].It’s not just Ukraine officials making money from the massive EU/USA funding scheme.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin Gives Remarkably Detailed Explanation of Current Peace Negotiation Status – Either Ukraine Concedes Diplomatically, or We Will Win Militarily

On the sidelines of a trade and economic discussion with the govt of Kyrgyzstan and the CSTO summit, Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin took questions from media about the Ukraine -vs- Russia conflict.

Now, due to the significance of his remarks, and keeping in mind these responses are in the Russian language, it becomes important for WESTERN READERS to evaluate the translation.  Vladimir Putin speaks in direct terms that are often not understood in western translation, the nuance within the translation is important.

That said, I am going through the remarks; I will share the video and ongoing translation while extrapolating against the known backdrop of communication as shared by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Emissary Steve Witkoff and ultimately, President Donald Trump.

It appears that Russian President Putin is expecting the arrival of a U.S. delegation to Moscow, likely Witkoff, Saturday, Sunday or Monday (early next week).  This aligns with the prior statements of President Trump during remarks aboard Air Force One.

In general, and in the specifically official nuance that Russian President Vladimir Putin is known for, Putin affirmed that Steve Witkoff and Yury Ushakov are key “informal” negotiators. Each emissary from each leader allowed space for plain language discussions.  Witkoff represents the voice of Donald Trump, and Ushakov representing the voice of Vladimir Putin.

Witkoff and Ushakov can meet and discuss the reality of things without concern for the noise of diplomatic stakeholders. Both men are closely trusted advisors of their principals, Trump and Putin.  When the elements of their discussions need to transfer to formal contexts, Witkoff/Trump bring aboard Secretary Rubio while Ushakov/Putin bring in Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.  The official teams transfer the common language objective into diplomatic details.

As to the status of the current conflict from the Russian perspective.  Vladimir Putin was brutally honest and pragmatic in his remarks.

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