Notably, Witkoff, who is close to US President Donald Trump, became the first senior American diplomat to visit Russia to meet Putin after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was open to a “permanent peace” deal with Ukraine. Speaking to Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Witkoff said that the world might be on the verge of “something that would be very, very important”, hinting towards a potential halt in the Russia-Ukraine war. Describing his talks with Putin as ‘compelling’, Witkoff said that after five hours of negotiations with the Russian President, he saw the deal ’emerging’.
Putin met Witkoff in St. Petersburg last Friday as Trump administration look to end the three-year war.
Witkoff’s remarks have come after Trump described the Ukraine conflict as “Biden’s war” on Monday, reiterating that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a role in starting the conflict. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said, “President Putin and everyone else respected your President! I had nothing to do with this war but am working diligently to get the death and destruction to stop.”
Notably, Witkoff became the first senior American diplomat to visit Russia to meet Putin after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Notably, the Biden administration had cut off all contact with the Russian president, making his visit to Russia prominent.
Witkoff also flew to Russia for talks that led to a prisoner swap that freed Marc Fogel, an American history teacher the US had deemed wrongfully detained. Fogel was arrested in August 2021 and was serving a 14-year prison sentence.
He is credited with developing a rapport with his Russian interlocutor, Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund.
Witkoff also went to the Mideast to begin work with Joe Biden’s team on winning a hostage and temporary ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
