The White House attempt to break the logjam in the Ukraine peace negotiations back on Nov. 26, when President Donald Trump announced that his outline of 28-points would be taken to Moscow by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and to Kiev by Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, was set back when, curiously, Driscoll never arrived in Kiev. At the time, Trump’s action had stamped approval for Driscoll’s “tough love” approach with Kiev and sidelined the weak-kneed treatment of Kiev on Nov. 24 by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The European “permanent war” crowd had been elated by Rubio’s performance and distressed by Trump’s Nov. 26 announcement.
Now the U.K.’s The Telegraph has offered, in its Dec. 12 article, “Head of U.S. Army Cut Out of Ukraine Talks by ‘Paranoid Hegseth,’” that U.S. Secretary Pete Hegseth stepped in the way. Their version is that a “paranoid” U.S. Defense Secretary Hegseth had stopped Driscoll, and they cited one source as saying: “He was seen to be exerting himself a bit too much, and he had his hand slapped.” Another gossipy version was offered by CNN, which attributed Hegseth’s sensitivity to Washington talk that Driscoll would be replacing Hegseth. However, not only did Driscoll explicitly disclaim any interest in the position, but the non-gossipy version is that, whatever Hegseth’s personal motivations, he served as an instrument of the European faction bent on manipulating Trump.