European taunts, American headaches: Witkoff scandal leaves Trump team in tatters, Ukraine in horror

Leaked transcripts of Steve Witkoff’s secret calls with top Kremlin aides have detonated a political bomb under Trump’s Ukraine peace team—showing the U.S. envoy apparently coaching Moscow on how to win over his own boss. Now three powerful camps are under suspicion: angry insiders at the State Department, Kremlin hardliners furious about NATO-style guarantees for Ukraine, and pro-Ukraine allies in Europe who wanted to kill a “Russian wishlist” deal. As Ukraine’s battlefield position worsens and U.S. officials whisper about dwindling arms, one question looms: who sabotaged the backchannel?