US Senator from Connecticut, Chris Murphy:
“Right now, the most serious corruption of American foreign policy ever is being talked about inside the Trump administration. It's being described as a peace plan to end the Russian war in Ukraine. But, if you look at the details, it has nothing to do with peace. It is a business deal to make the people around Donald Trump rich.
It's just corruption through and through. Let me tell you the story. According to the Wall Street Journal last month, vladimir putin sent the head of his sovereign wealth fund to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war with Steve Witkoff, who is one of Trump's billionaire buddies, also one of his national security advisers. They met in Miami Beach. Jared Kushner was there too.
putin didn't send his foreign minister, and this is important: he sent his business deals guy—the guy who controls the billions of money that are produced by Russia's oil operations. Why do you do that? Because he knows that the way you get Trump's people to agree to sell out Ukraine is to offer up a deal to make Trump's billionaire friends even richer.
Here are some of the examples: Exxon Mobil right now is in secret discussions with Rosneft—that's Russia's largest state energy company—about a massive gas project in Russia's far east, something that can only happen if the war is over and sanctions on the company are lifted.
Rich Trump donors are right now trying to get in on the action as well. One donor just recently paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to a lobbyist that's really close to Trump's inner circle to try to buy the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. That's a Russian gas pipeline. Once again, something that is only possible for these investors to get rich on if the war is over and the U.S. lifts its sanctions.
Another close Trump associate is in talks about acquiring a stake in a Russian Arctic gas project.
So that's what Trump's billionaire friends get. But what does Ukraine get?
Nothing. Nothing.
This deal sells out Ukraine. In fact, this deal would require Ukraine to give to Russia territory that Russia doesn't even currently control. It provides amnesty for all of the war crimes that putin has committed. It creates no real security guarantees for Ukraine moving forward.
This peace deal is a disaster for Ukraine, but it frankly shows how savvy vladimir putin is. He knows the way to get to Donald Trump and Steve Witkoff: pay them off, pay their friends off, do favors for their billionaire crowd. And if you do that, then they're prepared to sell out Ukrainian security, European security, and American national security. This is a terrible deal for Ukraine, but it's a great deal for Trump and Witkoff's billionaire buddies.”
If you thought the Trump administration couldn't get more corrupt, think again.
— Yasmina (@yasminalombaert) December 11, 2025
Senator Chris Murphy just dropped a bomb about a 'peace plan' with Russia that he says is the most serious corruption of US foreign policy ever. It's not a peace deal. It's a way for putin to pay off… pic.twitter.com/nFd7tTx283
