Susan Glasser

I mean, look, what's fascinating here also, Tim, is that Witkoff is essentially negotiating against Donald Trump's own previously stated positions.

This wouldn't be the first time that's happening.

But you mentioned that one of the conditions is no foreign forces on the ground in Ukraine.

Well, what that really means is that they're

It's saying no to the possibility of a European stabilization force, which is the thing that Trump indicated interest in earlier so that American troops wouldn't be on the ground to secure the future peace.

And it's, you know, just one of many examples.

The other thing is it talks about a ceasefire, whereas actually when Donald Trump had his summit meeting, quote unquote, with Vladimir Putin, you recall him rolling out the literal red carpet for Putin on an American airbase in Moscow.

Alaska in August, the major kind of pivot there was Trump going from demanding an immediate ceasefire to saying, no, no, we're just going to have a long-term peace deal.

So now we're back to maybe we're talking about a ceasefire again.

It's all very confusing and murky.

And, you know, the smartest read on it I've seen is someone suggesting that this is essentially a play by the Russians, putting it out there both to suggest, well, no, we are actually serious about negotiating with the United States in order to head off.

this sanctions bill that may or may not finally come to a vote in the U.S.

Congress.

But also, it's just a way of embarrassing Trump, I have to say, right?

Not that he gets embarrassed, but showing that despite all of the public displays of frustration with Vladimir Putin, that Trump's personal envoy to the Russians continues to

to be played for a fool by the Russians and to be working on proposals that don't include the other parties to this war.

Well, I mean, Russia has had a deliberate strategy, by the way, in violation of all principles of the laws of international warfare of targeting Russia.

Ukraine's civilian population with long-range missile and drone strikes, and in particular targeting Ukraine's civilian infrastructure, and that means heating and electricity.

We're just headed into the winter.

It's going to be a brutal and terrible winter.