Leaked Russia 'wish list' for peace is hardly America First

LAST WEEK, A 28-point "peace plan" for the Russia-Ukraine war surfaced.

- JONAH GOLDBERG COLUMNIST

JAE C. HONG Associated Press SPECIAL ENVOYS for President Trump and Vladimir Putin devised a peace plan in Miami.

It was apparently fleshed out in Miami over cocktails by President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and Witkoff's Russian counterpart Kirill Dmitriev.

Many critics immediately derided it as a "Russian wish-list." That was before we discovered that the version which was leaked -probably by Dmitriev - had literally been poorly translated from Russian. In a closed-door session with senators, secretary of State Marco Rubio even described it as a "wish-list for the Russians" and "not the administration's plan." On his way to Geneva for peace talks, Rubio scrambled to deny he ever said that.

But all of that is apparently moot now. What seems to have happened, amid all the chaos, is that Rubio had pried the Ukraine portfolio away from Witkoff. By Tuesday, Rubio revealed there is a whole new plan anyway.

This is good news, because the original plan wasn't in America's best interest.

I believe American foreign policy should put America first.

But I don't subscribe to "America First" foreign policy, because that's a label slapped on anything Trump wants, whether it's in his personal interest or the country's.

People who embrace the slogan "America First" generally believe that helping Ukraine isn't in America's interest. I think they're wrong.