Attention to the Unseen

The New York Times reports: President Trump warned airlines and pilots on Saturday that the airspace near Venezuela was closed, ratcheting up what his administration has characterized as a war against drug cartels. In a post on social media to “all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers,” the president wrote that the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela should be considered “CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.” Mr. Trump did not go into further detail in his post, but it came after…

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The Guardian reports: A handful of US representatives have reacted furiously to a leaked recording in which the special envoy to Ukraine reportedly coached Moscow on how to handle Donald Trump, but most have so far remained mute on the revelation that American officials were advising a US adversary. Don Bacon, a Republican representative, called for Steve Witkoff’s immediate dismissal. “For those who oppose the Russian invasion and want to see Ukraine prevail as a sovereign & democratic country, it…

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Bloomberg News reports: US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, fresh from the triumph of the Gaza peace deal, held a phone call last month with a senior Kremlin official to suggest they work together on a similar plan for Ukraine — and that Vladimir Putin should raise it with Donald Trump. In an Oct. 14 phone call that lasted a little over five minutes, Witkoff advised Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s top foreign policy aide, on how the Russian leader should broach the…

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Politico reports: Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, an unusual choice to play diplomat, spent two days last week delivering a tough message to Ukraine and its European allies: Accept the offered 28-point peace proposal by Thanksgiving, or else. Then, Secretary of State Marco Rubio showed up. Rubio’s arrival in Geneva on Sunday, to join Driscoll and resume discussions with senior Ukrainian officials, changed the tenor of the conversations. The Trump administration team backed away from a firm Thursday deadline and, in…

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The New York Times reports: Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that the United States “authored” a 28-point peace plan to end the war in Ukraine, after a Republican senator asserted that Mr. Rubio had distanced himself from the proposal and called it a Russian initiative. Mr. Rubio made the assertion on social media after Senator Mike Rounds, Republican of South Dakota, said Mr. Rubio had earlier on Saturday held a call with a bipartisan group of U.S….

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Reuters reports: U.S. officials and lawmakers are increasingly concerned about a meeting last month in which representatives of the Trump administration met with Kirill Dmitriev, a Russian envoy who is under U.S. sanctions, to draft a plan to end the war in Ukraine, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. The meeting took place in Miami at the end of October and included special envoy Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Dmitriev, who leads the Russian…

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Anne Applebaum writes: The 28-point peace plan that the United States and Russia want to impose on Ukraine and Europe is misnamed. It is not a peace plan. It is a proposal that weakens Ukraine and divides America from Europe, preparing the way for a larger war in the future. In the meantime, it benefits unnamed Russian and American investors, at the expense of everyone else. The plan was negotiated by Steve Witkoff, a real-estate developer with no historical, geographical,…

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Axios reports: President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the Ukrainian people on Friday and said President Trump’s 28-point peace plan will force Ukraine to choose between “losing our dignity” or risking the loss of U.S. support. Why it matters: The plan would force Ukraine to accept harsh concessions, including the loss of even more territory than Russia currently controls. Zelensky has told the Trump administration he’s prepared to negotiate, but the White House is pushing him to sign within one week. What he’s saying: “This is one of the most…

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The Guardian reports: US and Russian officials have quietly drafted a new plan to end the war in Ukraine that would require Kyiv to surrender territory and severely limit the size of its military, it was reported on Wednesday as Russian drone and missile strikes killed at least 25 people in the city of Ternopil. The draft plan, which was reportedly developed by Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the Kremlin adviser Kirill Dmitriev, would force draconian measures on Ukraine…

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CNN reports: President Donald Trump has said he believes Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s days are numbered, and that land strikes inside Venezuela are possible. Experts say that the US doesn’t currently have the military assets in place to launch a largescale operation to remove Maduro from power, though Trump has approved covert action within Venezuela, CNN has reported. But if Trump did order strikes inside Venezuela aimed at ousting Maduro, he could face serious challenges with fractured opposition elements and…

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