Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) lashed out at Trump administration adviser Steve Witkoff on Tuesday, accusing him of undermining Secretary of State Marco Rubio by going behind his back to help Russia in peace talks over Ukraine.
Fitzpatrick’s accusation follows reporting from Bloomberg News that Witkoff advised Russian officials on how to sell President Donald Trump on their own plan for resolving the war that was initiated when Russia invaded Ukraine on a pretense of securing the eastern regions for ethnic Russian separatists propped up by Kremlin money.
“This is a major problem,” wrote Fitzpatrick on X. “And one of the many reasons why these ridiculous side shows and secret meetings need to stop. Allow Secretary of State Marco Rubio to do his job in a fair and objective manner.”
The U.S. has backed Ukraine’s effort to defend its territory, supplying its forces with intelligence and weapons, but U.S. commitments and conditions have varied throughout the war and across the Biden and Trump administrations.
Trump has often expressed public sympathy for Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin, whose regime was proven to have worked behind the scenes to boost Trump’s campaign for president in 2016. He even met Putin in Alaska for a peace summit earlier this year. In recent months, however, he has grown frustrated and convinced that Putin is not interested in peace, but it remains unclear how far he is willing to go to put pressure on him.
The plan that circulated this month was one-sided in support of Russian goals in Ukraine. Conflicting reports and statements from the government disagree on exactly how much of a hand Russia had in crafting the details of the plan.
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