President Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, former real estate attorney and investor Steve Witkoff, has left administration insiders distressed by his approach to negotiating with two of America’s greatest adversaries.
Witkoff, who has become Trump’s de facto personal ambassador to Russian President Vladimir Putin in addition to taking on the Middle East portfolio, takes part in high-level meetings alone — and is said to have even occasionally leaned on Kremlin translators — in a break with longstanding diplomatic procedure, multiple sources told The Post.
Ahead of Witkoff’s most recent meeting with Putin this past Friday, the New York native greeted the Kremlin tyrant like an old friend — with no sign of the usual coterie of advisers, experts and military officers who typically accompany US officials conducting negotiations.
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Telegraph: Trump to let Putin keep land seized from Ukraine
Seven-point plan gives Kyiv no clear security guarantee from the US
Donald Trump will let Vladimir Putin keep almost all the territory he has seized from Ukraine under the terms of a proposed peace deal.
The condition is part of a seven-point plan to end the war that leaves Ukraine with no clear US security guarantee.
It was due to be discussed in London on Wednesday, when US officials would hear Kyiv’s reaction, though the talks were downgraded when US secretary of state Marco Rubio pulled out.
Foreign ministers from the UK, France, Germany and Ukraine withdrew in an apparent response. Discussions were instead scheduled to take place between senior officials from those nations and the US.
The Trump administration’s peace proposal involves the US offering formal recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea and implies de facto recognition of other occupied territories.
This would mean freezing the current front line, allowing Putin to keep almost all the territory Russia has gained.