The Kremlin continues dangling billions and trillions of dollars of potential business to Kushner and Witkoff to get them to steamroll Ukraine. But that money is a mirage.
My latest.
@juliaioffe.bsky.socialJulia Ioffe
@juliaioffe.bsky.social
Author of MOTHERLAND: A Feminist History of Modern Russia, from Revolution to Autocracy. A finalist for the National Book Award. DC correspondent at Puck. All views my own.
@juliaioffe.bsky.social@juliaioffe.bsky.socialHow are Witkoff and Kushner's peace efforts going? “Peace is further away than it was a year ago,” said a source close to the Kremlin. “And the occasional trip by Witkoff and Kushner isn’t going to change that.”
My latest.
@juliaioffe.bsky.socialReposted by @juliaioffe.bsky.socialHow are Witkoff and Kushner's peace efforts going? “Peace is further away than it was a year ago,” said a source close to the Kremlin. “And the occasional trip by Witkoff and Kushner isn’t going to change that.”
My latest.
@juliaioffe.bsky.socialHow are Witkoff and Kushner's peace efforts going? “Peace is further away than it was a year ago,” said a source close to the Kremlin. “And the occasional trip by Witkoff and Kushner isn’t going to change that.”
My latest.
@juliaioffe.bsky.social"Kremlev is the 'wallet' of [Putin's chief bodyguard] Alexei Rubezhnoy, the closest person to Putin," @zygaro.bsky.social told me. "Rubezhnoy is the first person who sees Putin in the morning and the last person to wish him good night before bed."
@juliaioffe.bsky.social“It looks strange,” said one person close to the Kremlin. “If they don’t really know each other, it looks strange,” he said. “If they’re close friends—okay, it still looks strange, but maybe just a little less.”
@juliaioffe.bsky.socialWho is Umar Kremlev, who paid for part of Donald Trump Jr's wedding? Turns out, he's the business front of Vladimir Putin's chief body guard, one of the most powerful men in Russia. That's about as close as it gets.
My latest.
@hignfyus.bsky.socialReposted by @juliaioffe.bsky.socialTHE WAIT IS OVER! The season premiere of HIGNFY is now streaming on CNN. Catchup on last night's episode with Comedian and Host @jonlovett.bsky.social & Journalist @juliaioffe.bsky.social
@juliaioffe.bsky.socialNEW: The State Department is not allowing in France's new ambassador over a French government tweet. The US demanded France take down the tweet, France said no. The US demanded a public apology. France said no. Now the two are trying to hammer out language on a new tweet.
@juliaioffe.bsky.socialNEW: The State Department is not allowing in France's new ambassador over a French government tweet. The US demanded France take down the tweet, France said no. The US demanded a public apology. France said no. Now the two are trying to find compromise.
My latest.
@altusaid.altgov.infoReposted by @juliaioffe.bsky.social"Trump’s State Department . . . discovered that many of the people it eliminated were, unfortunately, pretty important all along—and desperately trying to refill their roles. “State is shopping for the expertise it threw away,” said one former officer."
@juliaioffe.bsky.socialAlways love talking to my partner in Puck @PeterHamby, especially when it's about Pete Hegseth's purge of the military.
(And props to our team for choosing these thumbnails lol)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oUR...
@juliaioffe.bsky.socialFoggy Bottom is quietly hiring again—including for the very roles that thousands of career diplomats lost last year.
My latest.
@juliaioffe.bsky.socialBack in April, I reported that Dan Driscoll, secretary of the Army, was going to leave the job by the end of summer. Today, on August 31, he did just that.
@juliaioffe.bsky.socialAs Dan Driscoll prepares to leave his job as Army Secretary, I'm told acting chief of staff Gen. Chris LaNeve has stopped reporting to him and goes right to Sec. Hegseth instead.
My latest.
@juliaioffe.bsky.social“When is Pete Hegseth leaving?” said a source familiar with the situation. “What makes you think he’s ever going to leave? That’s the only conclusion I can come to.”
My latest.
@juliaioffe.bsky.socialThe right-wing Ben Franklin Fellowship is now handing out awards—and cash prizes—with the State Dept to its diplomats, including the MLK Jr prize for "meritocracy" & Dwight Eisenhower award for "creative diplomacy" in deporting the undocumented.
My latest.
puck.newsThe State Department’s New B.F.F.The conservative Ben Franklin Fellowship appears to have formalized its relation with the State Department, raising a series of questions around Washington.
@juliaioffe.bsky.socialWhy is the Trump administration blocking the next French ambassador and revoking the visa of the current Brazilian ambassador?
My latest.
puck.newsA Very MAGA Diplomatic ScandalVisa revocations, ambassador recalls, and open interventions in foreign elections mark a hardball new phase of Trump’s chaotic foreign policy. A diplomatic spat with the French and a clash with the Br...
@juliaioffe.bsky.socialThe irony of Trump calling FIFA to overturn a red card for Balogun because he knows the U.S. can’t win without Balogun, who only qualifies for the U.S. team because of birthright citizenship, which Trump just tried to overturn.
@juliaioffe.bsky.socialPutin is apparently so spooked by reports that Israelis hacked Tehran's traffic cameras to kill Khamenei, that he has stopped coming to the Kremlin, started taking his meetings virtually, and shut down cell service in Moscow.
My latest.
puck.newsPutin’s Post-Iran ParanoiaThe Russian president has curtailed his schedule, and Moscow has virtually no cell service. The official explanation is about Ukrainian drones, but Putin is clearly spooked by the attacks on his old a...