After the publication of the conversations with Ushakov and Dmitriev, Republicans want to fire Witkoff

After the publication of the leaked conversation between U.S. special envoy Stephen Witkoff and his Russian counterparts Yury Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev, “hawks” in the Republican Party have called for Witkoff to be fired, branding him a traitor. They also want Secretary of State Marco Rubio to be given greater powers over foreign policy.

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Congressman Don Bacon said the leaked conversations show the need to remove Witkoff. According to him, Witkoff “is acting as if he’s on Russia’s payroll.” Bacon called what is happening “a farce and a stain on our country,” and again emphasized: “He has to be fired.”

House member Ted Lieu called Witkoff’s actions unacceptable and wrote that the special envoy is “a true traitor.”

“Steve Witkoff should be working for the United States, not for Russia,” Lieu believes.

Republican Brian Fitzpatrick wrote that what happened is “a serious problem” and an example of why “these ridiculous side shows and secret meetings must stop.” He added: “Let Secretary of State Marco Rubio do his job honestly and objectively.”

Notably, Donald Trump’s reaction to the publication was completely different: he saw nothing wrong in the conversation and said that this is how negotiations should be conducted — trying to take all sides’ views into account.

A transcript of the conversations between Witkoff and Putin aide Ushakov was published by Bloomberg. During the call, the U.S. representative gives recommendations to the Russian side on how Putin should best talk to Trump the day before Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Washington.

After this conversation, Trump refused to provide Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine and announced preparations for a meeting with Putin in Budapest, which, however, has not yet taken place.

The recordings also mention creating a plan for Ukraine that would resemble the U.S. plan for a Gaza settlement. Based on this, Trump’s opponents concluded that the 28-point plan for Ukraine is “a plan written in Russia.” The White House denies these claims.

Meanwhile, Ushakov suggested that his conversations with Witkoff and Dmitriev might have been intercepted via WhatsApp.

“This is all very unusual. Yes, there are contacts over secure lines, where leaks almost never happen unless one of the parties deliberately allows them. And there are some conversations over WhatsApp that, generally speaking, someone can apparently listen to in some way. It is hardly likely that such a leak came from the participants in the conversation,” the Russian president’s aide said.