Donald Trump‘s Middle East envoy and key peace negotiator has mocked Keir Starmer‘s peacekeeping plan for Ukraine as ‘Churchill-like posing’ and praised Putin as ‘super-smart’.
Steve Witkoff, 68, criticised Britain and France‘s plan to send peacekeepers to Ukraine in order to prevent another Russian invasion if a ceasefire agreement is made.
The envoy, who is a billionaire property developer with no diplomatic experience, said: ‘I think there’s this sort of notion of, we’ve all got to be like Winston Churchill.’
Speaking to former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson on his YouTube channel, Mr Witkoff said peace could be achieved through diplomacy instead of fighting to the end.
He has been representing the US in visits to Moscow as part of Mr Trump’s efforts to secure a ceasefire agreement in Ukraine.
During the interview, Witkoff regurgitated multiple Russian claims, including calling Ukraine ‘a false country’ and asked when the world would recognise occupied Ukrainian territory as Russian.
One of Mr Witkoff’s key beliefs is that Putin has already got what he wanted in Ukraine.
He said he thought it was ‘preposterous’ that Putin wanted to ‘march across Europe’ – despite the Russian leader saying he wanted to do exactly that.
Steve Witkoff, 68, criticised Britain and France ‘s plan to send peacekeepers to Ukraine in order to prevent another Russian invasion if a ceasefire agreement is made
Donald Trump ‘s Middle East envoy and key peace negotiator has mocked Keir Starmer ‘s peacekeeping plan for Ukraine as ‘Churchill-like posing’ and praised Putin as ‘super-smart’
Emmanuel Macron, Sir Keir Starmer and Volodymyr Zelensky and other officials attend the European leaders’ summit to discuss European security and Ukraine, at Lancaster House in London on March 2
Putin has said he wishes to bring back the Russian Empire and roll back Nato from Eastern Europe to return Moscow’s influence to the Soviet-era.
Despite this, Witkoff said: ‘Why would they want to absorb Ukraine? For what purpose? They don’t need to absorb Ukraine.
‘They’ve gotten, they’ve reclaimed these five regions. They have Crimea, and they’ve gotten what they want. So why do they need more?
‘Putin is a very smart guy… He’s a super smart guy.’
He appeared to mix up Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, with the Eastern territories of Ukraine occupied since the 2022 invasion.
Mr Witkoff said of the Russia-controlled territory: ‘The elephant in the room is there are constitutional issues in Ukraine as to what they can concede to, with regard to giving up territory.
‘The Russians are de facto in control of these territories.
‘The question is, will the world acknowledge that those are Russian territories? Can Zelensky survive politically if he acknowledges this?’
Ukrainian rescuers working at the site of an overnight drone attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 23 amid the ongoing Russian invasion
Steve Witkoff (pictured) was labelled ‘a disgrace’ and ‘out of his depth’ over his comments about Ukraine giving up its territory
Last week Ukraine and Russia agreed in principle to a limited ceasefire after Mr Putin had rejected a 30-day full ceasefire
Mr Witkoff, a friend of Mr Trump’s, was appointed as Middle East envoy but has since visited Russia twice to negotiate a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
Describing Russia as ‘reclaiming’ the five regions is incorrect as they are in fact part of Ukraine.
Putin’s armies do not fully control the five entire regions as they were halted in their tracks by the Ukrainian army in Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Kherson.
Ukrainian soldiers have held off the Russian army by pioneering drone warfare and killing up to 250,000 of Putin’s men.
Mr Witkoff floundered even just trying to name the Russian-occupied districts during the interview.
He also said the regions were ‘Russian-speaking’ and that ‘there have been referendums where the majority of the people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule’.
His comment refers to Kremlin-organised votes six months after Russia‘s invasion in 2022, not recognised by Western countries and denounced as a sham.
Mr Trump’s envoy praised Putin and even told Tucker Carlson he ‘liked’ the Russian leader.
‘I don’t regard Putin as a bad guy. He’s super smart,’ he said.
After meeting him just 10 days ago, Mr Witkoff said Putin had been ‘gracious’ and ‘straight up’ with him.
He said the Russian president told him he had prayed for Mr Trump after his assassination attempt last year.
Liberal Democrat Sarah Green (pictured), who is on the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Ukraine, said: ‘Witkoff doesn’t care about Ukraine’s sovereignty. He’s more comfortable repeating Putin’s propaganda than supporting Ukraine’s heroic fighters and civilians’
Donald Trump’s special envoy has been accused of ‘regurgitating Kremlin propaganda’ and told to apologise to Ukraine’s people
He also said Putin had presented him with a portrait of the US president by a Russian artist, which Mr Witkoff then delivered to him.
‘He was touched by it,’ he said. ‘This is the kind of connection that we’ve been able to re-establish, through, by the way, a simple word called communication.
‘President Putin had commissioned a beautiful portrait of President Trump, from the leading Russian artist, and asked me to take it home to Mr Trump.
‘It was such a gracious moment, and [he] told me his story… about how when the President was shot, he went to his local church and met with his priest and prayed for the President.
‘Not because he was the President of the United [States]… but because he had a friendship and he was praying for his friend.’
Mr Witkoff was labelled ‘a disgrace’ and ‘out of his depth’ by MPs over his comments about Ukraine giving up its territory.
Labour MP Neil Coyle said: ‘Many people in Florida and Texas speak Spanish but it would be idiotic and offensive to claim that they belong to Spain. Ukrainian territory belongs to the Ukrainian state alone.’
Liberal Democrat Sarah Green, who is on the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Ukraine, said: ‘Witkoff doesn’t care about Ukraine’s sovereignty. He’s more comfortable repeating Putin’s propaganda than supporting Ukraine’s heroic fighters and civilians.’
Labour MP Neil Coyle (pictured) said: ‘Many people in Florida and Texas speak Spanish but it would be idiotic and offensive to claim that they belong to Spain . Ukrainian territory belongs to the Ukrainian state alone’
Dr Bob Seely (pictured), a former Tory MP and author of an upcoming book on Russian warfare, said: ‘Witkoff is very clearly out of his depth and breathtakingly ill-informed’
And Dr Bob Seely, a former Tory MP and author of an upcoming book on Russian warfare, said: ‘Witkoff is very clearly out of his depth and breathtakingly ill-informed. He doesn’t know the names of the areas that he’s talking about.
‘Saying the Ukrainian people want to be part of Russia – it is an absolute disgrace.
‘He makes no mention or recognition of the fact that in territories occupied by Russia the treatment of the Ukrainian citizens, whatever language they speak, has been appalling.
‘This man is simply regurgitating Kremlin propaganda. He should apologise to Ukrainians, and maybe talk to some Ukrainians who are dealing with the aftermath of the Russian invasion.’
Dr Seely said: ‘The Russian negotiating team is highly professional and their tactics are very aggressive and controlled.
‘But you have these hotshot property guys walking into a world they just don’t understand.
‘Ukraine has been invaded twice, in 2014 and 2022. No one in the occupied regions was given a choice, just the military oppression of the Russian State.’
Last week Ukraine and Russia agreed in principle to a limited ceasefire after Mr Putin had rejected a 30-day full ceasefire.
Mr Witkoff’s comments come after US Vice President JD Vance insulted dead British soldiers by describing the UK as ‘some random country that hasn’t fought a war in 30 or 40 years.’
