President Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East, billionaire New York real estate developer Steve Witkoff, announced Sunday on social media that he and Russian Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev “held productive and constructive meetings” with the American delegation.
The American delegation included Witkoff, billionaire real estate developer and Trump son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Josh Gruenbaum, a former private equity investor in New York who is now Commissioner of the General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service (FAS).
Witkoff wrote: “Russia remains fully committed to achieving peace in Ukraine. Russia highly values the efforts and support of the United States to resolve the Ukrainian conflict and re-establish global security.”
Note: Witkoff did not mention the Ukrainian delegation the U.S. side met with in Miami, including Rustem Umerov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, and Lieutenant General Andriy Hnatov, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
This statement is a sick joke. US foreign policy is a sick joke, being implemented by enemies of truth, freedom & democracy – people driven by personal greed & the opportunity to exploit the suffering of others by trading US power and prestige for death & business opportunities. pic.twitter.com/VZ8jslUpIs
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) December 22, 2025
Former federal prosecutor Ron Filipkowski, a former prosecutor and editor-in-chief of MAGA-antagonist MeidasTouch Network, replied to Witkoff: “This statement is a sick joke. US foreign policy is a sick joke, being implemented by enemies of truth, freedom & democracy – people driven by personal greed & the opportunity to exploit the suffering of others by trading US power and prestige for death & business opportunities.”
As viewed by some, Witkoff’s credibility as a Ukraine-Russia negotiator took a hit in November after a leak from his office appeared to expose a peace plan he presented as allegedly having been authored largely according to Russian specifications.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) asserted the same without ambiguity, calling the plan “nothing more than Russia’s absurd wish list.”
This needs to be disseminated far and wide. This “28 point plan” is nothing more than Russia’s absurd wish list that should be dismissed and shredded for the garbage that it is. The only peace plan that should be taken seriously is one that is 100% drafted by and approved by… https://t.co/ihKme0daAG
— Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick
(@RepBrianFitz) November 22, 2025
Fitzpatrick also noted that beyond his questions about Witkoff’s effectiveness and goals, the Russian side is incapable of negotiating in good faith, saying “Putin has never kept a single promise that he has made regarding Ukraine. Not once.”
The following facts must be emphasized when assessing any proposed peace agreement:
-Vladimir Putin has never once kept a single promise that he has made regarding Ukraine. Not once. Ever. And he’s not about to start now. Any agreement that requires any element of trust placed…
— Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick
(@RepBrianFitz) November 23, 2025
Note: In an article titled “US Pitches ‘Project Sunrise’ Plan to Turn Gaza Into High Tech Metropolis,” The Wall Street Journal reported that Witkoff, Kushner and Gruenbaum also met with officials from Egypt, Turkey and Qatar in Miami on Friday to discuss developments in Gaza. The blueprint “could have the U.S. commit to roughly 20% of some reconstruction costs over 10 years.”