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A new leak of private diplomatic conversations has exposed what looks like a coordinated effort to steer President Trump away from approving long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles for Ukraine. According to transcripts reported by major outlets, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff spoke with a senior Kremlin aide and even suggested how Vladimir Putin should pitch a peace plan to the president, and a subsequent Putin-Trump call reportedly persuaded Mr. Trump not to greenlight Tomahawks. The reporting is explosive because it ties U.S. decision-making directly to behind-the-scenes channels that cut across normal diplomatic lines.
Patriots should not mistake prudence for weakness—President Trump has repeatedly said he wants an end to the bloodshed and that U.S. stockpiles and training timelines matter when considering advanced systems like the Tomahawk. If the president genuinely judged that handing over thousands of miles of strike capability would escalate the conflict and risk American lives or deplete our own defenses, that is a defensible, even responsible, position for any commander-in-chief. Conservatives who want a strong America abroad must insist our leaders make sober judgments about escalation and logistics, not reflexively bow to bipartisan pressure to send every weapon on the wish list.
That said, the leaks and the cozy optics around this negotiation are deeply troubling and deserve a full accounting. The Kremlin itself calls the disclosure unacceptable, and independent outlets have raised serious questions about how private, encrypted conversations were accessed and published at such a politically sensitive moment. Whatever one thinks of the policy outcome, Americans should be alarmed that clandestine disclosures are being used as political weapons to sabotage diplomacy and inflame partisan fever.
Steve Witkoff’s role in coaching a Russian official on how to flatter and pitch President Trump looks, at best, like amateur hour and, at worst, like a reckless undermining of Ukraine’s negotiating position. Even some Republicans have raised alarms about an envoy who appears to have advised the other side on how to frame a settlement that would demand painful territorial concessions from Kyiv. The White House has defended Witkoff as a dealmaker doing standard negotiating work, but responsible governance requires oversight: if private envoys are shaping foreign policy in secret, Congress and the American people have a right to know exactly what authority they hold.
America wants peace, but peace negotiated in the shadows with the Kremlin at the table cannot come at the expense of our credibility or our allies’ security. If the administration is serious about ending the war, it should do so transparently, with the input of Congress, Ukraine’s leaders, and NATO partners—not through back-channel coaching and leaked transcripts that fuel chaos. Conservatives should applaud any real push for an honest, enforceable ceasefire, while demanding accountability for anyone who sidesteps the rule of law or hands Russia diplomatic victories on a silver platter.
