Summary
Democratic Senator Jack Reed accused Trump of “surrendering to the Russians” as his administration pushes for U.S.-Russia talks over Ukraine.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff suggested Ukraine’s NATO ambitions provoked the war and declined to blame Russia.
Zelenskyy, under pressure, said he would step down for peace if Ukraine gained NATO membership.
The Trump administration denies favoring Russia and claims its strategy brings peace closer without criticizing Putin’s invasion.
Some of what Trump does is against his own interests, and I can’t explain that, but most of the time he’s an opportunist; there’s no point in trying to betray people if they have the power to hurt you back.
He pointlessly antagonizes other countries with the power to hurt the US economically all the time. I think this is personal - it’s well-known he’s has financial dealings with Russia going back decades. He clearly feels beholden to Putin in a way that he doesn’t seem to with anyone else.