When US President Donald Trump wanted someone to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in February to open negotiations for a potential deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war, he didn’t dispatch his secretary of state.
The man he sent to the Kremlin to handle a titanic geopolitical challenge does not even have a diplomatic background.
Instead Trump picked a personal friend and golf buddy – billionaire real estate developer Steve Witkoff.
The president has made Witkoff his Middle East envoy. But last month the Bronx-born businessman found himself in discussions about ending a conflict in Eastern Europe – having been “with [Putin] for a very extended period, like about three hours”, in Trump’s words.
Witkoff was in Moscow to help facilitate a deal that saw the US and Russia swap prisoners, which was seen as signalling a possible thaw in relations between the two countries.
Though tensions between the US and Ukraine reached an all-time low following an Oval Office spat between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, it appears Witkoff may return to the negotiating table.
Media reports suggest Witkoff and Putin will meet again later this week, though the Kremlin has yet to confirm this.
Witkoff also played a part in brokering the current ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, for which both Trump and his predecessor Joe Biden took credit.
Though he was not yet officially in his post, Witkoff flew to Tel Aviv to meet Netanyahu before the deal was brokered in Qatar. He…
