Whitkoff and Kushner May Be Replaced by CIA Director in White House
Donald Trump's administration is considering the possibility of withdrawing special envoy Steve Whitkoff and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner from negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. Five people familiar with the plans told Financial Times about this .
During his tenure, Whitkoff visited Moscow eight times and Kyiv only once, but failed to achieve significant progress. Now, according to American officials, CIA Director John Ratcliffe may take on the main role in the so-called "shuttle diplomacy." He will continue contacts with representatives of Russian and Ukrainian special services.
The White House and the CIA declined to comment on the possible reshuffle. Sources of the publication emphasize that Trump has not yet made a final decision. However, the possibility of removing Whitkoff has already been positively received in some European capitals, where some results are expected after long unsuccessful negotiations with Moscow.
According to FT sources, the Kremlin may also be ready to consider a different approach from the US. In Moscow, Whitkoff is partially considered responsible for the lack of a breakthrough during the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in Alaska in August 2025. According to this version, Whitkoff convinced Trump that Putin was ready to make certain compromises, but during the meeting, the Russian leader again voiced his previous demands.
In Kyiv, in turn, it is believed that the American special envoy did not put enough pressure on Putin to soften his position.
After the failure of another attempt to reach an agreement in late February, the US administration was already considering the possibility of reformatting the negotiating team. However, these plans were postponed when Washington was fully focused on the war with Iran.
As a result, competition arose between Ratcliffe and Whitkoff for influence over the negotiation process. Shortly before the last visit of American special envoys to Moscow, Ratcliffe himself unexpectedly visited Russia. According to sources of The Washington Post, this visit did not make a positive impression on Putin, and the Russian side perceived it as a sign of US weakness.
The last visit of Whitkoff and Kushner to Moscow also did not yield a noticeable result. One person familiar with the negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv noted that resolving such a complex conflict requires constant and well-organized work on every issue, and the current approach, in his opinion, is insufficient for this.
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