U.S. President Donald Trump has sent an unconventional negotiating team to Moscow: former business partner Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner. Unnamed CNN interlocutors said the American leader prefers "personal diplomacy" over bureaucracy.
Reportedly, none of these negotiators has been confirmed by lawmakers in the Senate, and Kushner does not even hold an official position in the U.S. government. Nevertheless, they are scheduled to meet with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on December 2.
An unconventional approach to diplomacy
Overall, Trump’s recent efforts on the Russia-Ukraine war reportedly underscore his unconventional, and at times controversial, approach to diplomacy, CNN writes.
Despite Witkoff’s success in negotiations between Israel and Hamas, his appointment to help resolve that conflict and the Russian war has raised eyebrows both in Washington and abroad. But a former senior State Department official noted that Trump has never wanted to hand himself over to the bureaucracy and instead relied on "personal diplomacy."
Trump also calls Witkoff and Kushner the most effective intermediaries, supposedly capable of "closing the deal."
Kushner’s role
White House officials and people close to Kushner say there was no specific moment when the decision was made to involve the president’s son-in-law in the Russia-Ukraine issue. According to them, this allegedly became a natural continuation of work he had been doing even before Trump was elected president of the United States.
The American leader today considers Kushner his "closest aide" on foreign policy matters. According to one interlocutor, he has good ideas for how to move the situation forward, as well as a rare quality not shared by many in the president’s senior circles — his complete trust.
Criticism of the approach
However, a former senior State Department official considers it wrong and dangerous that Trump relies on such a narrow circle of people.
"You make mistakes, and you don’t have a wide enough circle to challenge thinking, to present opposing views. You can drive yourself into a fairly narrow rut, without understanding what the alternatives might be."
– he said.
But Trump still believes the most important thing is that his emissaries are directly connected to him and express his view, an unnamed official said.
