Iryna Nesterova12:07, 01.05.25

The publication has learned that Trump’s special representative sometimes even relies on Kremlin translators, which is a violation of established diplomatic procedure.

The United States administration is disappointed with the way President Donald Trump’s special representative for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is negotiating with Russia, the New York Post reports .

As is known, in addition to being Trump’s special representative for the Middle East, Witkoff is conducting direct negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. As the publication learned from sources, Witkoff participates in high-level meetings independently and even sometimes relies on Kremlin interpreters, which is a violation of established diplomatic procedure.

During Witkoff’s last meeting with Putin, which took place last Friday, Trump’s special envoy greeted the Kremlin dictator as an old friend – “with no sign of the usual group of advisers, experts and military officers who usually accompany American officials conducting negotiations,” the report said.

Meanwhile, Putin was not at the meeting alone, but accompanied by his assistant Yuri Ushakov and the head of the sovereign wealth fund, Kirill Dmitriev.

“Anyone who is having these kinds of talks with Putin would benefit from having experienced negotiators on their team and taking them with them to meetings with the Kremlin,” said John Hardy, director of the Russia program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

A representative of the previous Trump administration also shared his opinion about Witkoff:

 “A nice guy, but clumsy, damn it, idiot. He shouldn’t be doing this himself.”

“Maybe I’m just being deceived”

The publication recalled that, as special envoy for the Middle East, Witkoff tried to broker a ceasefire and hostage release agreement between Israel and Hamas, but this attempt failed.

Israel points to Witkoff’s lack of diplomatic experience, as well as the fact that he takes on “too much.”

“How is Witkoff dividing his time between two very important negotiations? I think he’s a good guy, but the Iranian issue is so complex that I hope he brings more people to the team,” said Danny Citrinovich, an Israeli security expert and fellow at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies.

Two negotiators instead of one

The publication pointed out that Trump has two special representatives for the Russian-Ukrainian war. In addition to Witkoff, retired General Keith Kellogg is also involved in this. Initially, he was a special representative for Ukraine and Russia, and later became a special representative for Ukraine. And Witkoff is responsible for negotiations with the Russian Federation. The article says that “the presence of separate negotiators for each side is proving difficult to balance.”

“The problem with how President Trump has divided responsibilities between Witkoff and Kellogg is that Witkoff, who is closer to Trump, conveys the Kremlin’s perspective to Trump but has much less influence over Kiev’s views,” Hardy said.

According to former US Ambassador to Russia Michael Mockfall, Trump needs to appoint one experienced person.

“If Trump were finally serious about mediating an end to the war in Ukraine, he would appoint one person to negotiate with both sides – shuttle diplomacy – and preferably someone with some experience in diplomacy. Witkoff is acting as Putin’s mailman. He is not conducting any negotiations,” the ex-ambassador said.

Witkoff’s negotiations with Putin

As UNIAN previously reported, during Witkoff’s last visit to the Russian Federation on April 25, Putin spoke with him about direct negotiations with Ukraine. Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov said that the conversation between the politicians was constructive and “very useful”. According to him, the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between the Ukrainian and Russian sides was discussed.

Former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul believes that US President’s special representative Witkoff has done nothing to bring about a ceasefire in Ukraine and should be replaced by a more experienced diplomat. According to the ex-ambassador, the best diplomat will not be able to negotiate with several countries at the same time, and therefore Witkoff should be responsible for one direction.

Recently, Witkoff boasted of dubious achievements in negotiations with Putin. He said that he had four meetings with the Russian dictator, “none of which lasted less than three hours,” and one, he said, even lasted “nearly five hours.”

(c)UNIAN 2025