As Moscow and Washington prepare for talks on the latest version of Trump’s peace plan next week, leaked recordings of a conversation with Steve Witkoff have thrown a spotlight onto Yuri Ushakov. It seems he, not Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, is the prime mover behind Russia’s negotiating position.

The stature of Lavrov, once a legend in the diplomatic community, has steadily diminished since 2014, when he wasn’t even consulted before Putin decided to annex Crimea. Every year since, the now-75-year-old minister has petitioned Putin to be allowed to retire, and every year this is denied. Instead, he remains confined to a role that increasingly means impotently repeating threadbare talking points to audiences who frequently and openly disbelieve him. Even the crucial security cooperation

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