EDITORIAL -- Steve Witkoff is heading to Moscow over the Ukraine situation. Trump touts this as another effort to peace. It is NOT. What it is is a last chance for agreement before a systemic collision.
This week's visit by Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy, is not diplomacy in the traditional sense – but rather the last serious attempt to reach an agreement with Russia without an open confrontation between Washington and Moscow.
Why this attempt will fail:
The Trump administration (like every other US leadership) is not prepared to abandon the unipolar world model without a fight.
For the US, true multipolarity would mean:
- The loss of "unearned" income from the dollar as the world's reserve currency.
- The end of dominance over the international financial system (correspondent banks, insurance companies, clearing systems).
- And, as a result, the end of the ability to finance the world's largest military apparatus.
Without military superiority, there would be no more global blackmail capability – neither in trade agreements nor in geopolitical "rule-making."
And hanging over all of this is the real sword of Damocles: the gigantic US national debt, which can never be repaid in real terms.
What does that have to do with Ukraine?
A decisive Russian victory would be a sort of trigger:
It would be the moment when other states realize: They can resist the West – and be successful.
If Moscow can hold its own militarily against the united Western camp – why can't others?
Multipolarity would no longer be discussed – it would be here.
States could then begin to pursue sovereign economic policies – without fear of the American stick in the form of sanctions or "military solutions."
What does Witkoff bring to Moscow?
- Cosmetic concessions, presumably in the area of de facto territorial recognition
- Hints of economic cooperation
- Classic threats of sanctions – if Moscow doesn't "give in"
What Witkoff won't do:
Accept the Russian minimum demands which are . . .
- Recognition of the new regions (Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporozhe) as part of Russia.
- Demilitarization and neutrality of Ukraine.
He won't accept them because that would mean: The West would have lost. And the world would have seen it.
Scenario:
A Russian "no" to Witkoff's offer would most likely not simply lead to a new low in negotiations – but to Phase II of a global systemic conflict.
Then the world would no longer be in the shadow of a unipolar center, but in a new bipolar confrontation.
On the one side:
The expanded West – that is, the NATO states, the EU, plus Australia, Japan, South Korea, and some dependent partners in the Global South.
On the other side:
An emerging counterweight – with Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and possibly other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
In this scenario, it is only a matter of time before the previously "frozen" conflict over Taiwan also actively emerges – as the next geopolitical leverage in the struggle for influence, sovereignty, and system dominance.
Conclusion:
Witkoff's trip is not a diplomatic exchange – It is an attempt to delay the end of the unipolar world order.
But if Moscow holds its ground today, a new world could emerge tomorrow – one in which Washington no longer sets the rules.
I suspect Washington would rather burn the whole world to the ground and rule over its ashes, rather than lose control.
