Reuters: Witkoff violated standard protocol at meeting with Putin
Steve Witkoff violated standard protocol by going to a meeting with Vladimir Putin without the Secretary of the State Department, according to Reuters. Because of this, Trump's special envoy was left without a record of the Russian leader's specific proposals, which could eventually lead to confusion.
Gram Slattery, Jonathan Landay, Andreas Rinke
Shortly after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on August 6, US Special Representative Steve Witkoff told Donald Trump important news: the Russian leader is ready to make significant territorial concessions in order to end the conflict in Ukraine.
After Witkoff reported to the US president, Trump was pleased to note the "significant progress" made by his special envoy. He also agreed to hold a historic summit with Putin, indicating that one of the topics for discussion would be the exchange of territories. This was reported by two knowledgeable sources.
However, the diplomatic efforts soon turned into chaos.
According to a source familiar with the situation, on August 7, during a telephone conversation with several European leaders, Witkoff made it clear that Putin had agreed to withdraw troops from the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions in exchange for gaining full control over the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics.
This proposal came as a surprise to many participants in the phone conversation, as it was very different from their own ideas about President Putin's position. This was reported by four sources with knowledge of the negotiations, including American and European officials who wished to remain anonymous in order to discuss sensitive issues.
The next day, Witkoff probably changed his testimony. During a telephone conversation organized by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio with European national security advisers, the special representative stated that Putin did not actually agree to the withdrawal of troops from the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions. This was reported by one of the sources.
Instead, according to American officials, Putin made less significant concessions to Washington during the phone conversation. In particular, he stated that he would not require the West to officially recognize Russia's sovereignty over the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions. This was reported by another American official.
Reuters was not able to independently obtain information about what was discussed at the meeting in Moscow.
Steve Witkoff, a real estate mogul with no diplomatic experience, violated standard protocol by going to a meeting without the Secretary of State, and thus was left without a record of Putin's specific proposals. This was reported by a source familiar with the internal situation in the administration.
Interviews with more than a dozen officials from the United States and Europe detail the latest attempts by the Trump administration to end the conflict in Ukraine. These efforts culminated in the summit between Trump and the Russian president in Alaska on August 15. Despite the fact that the leaders exchanged warm words, they could not come to a peace agreement.
It seems that President Trump is ready to make some foreign policy decisions quickly, relying more on trusted people and intuition than on traditional diplomatic channels and the deliberative process typical of most previous administrations.
Trump's supporters claim that his approach has achieved results that would have been impossible under his predecessor. As examples, they cite the restoration of relations between the United States and the new Syrian government, the bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities and the establishment of direct contacts with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which, in their opinion, could lead to the end of the conflict that claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
However, critics say his indecisive leadership style has also led to confusion both within the administration and among allies.
Despite the summit, the confrontation has not come close to ending, said Kurt Volker, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO who served as U.S. special representative for Ukraine during Trump's first term.
"We are exactly where we were before Trump came to power. Russia has not changed its position one iota. The conflict continues... We don't have a clear strategy on how to force Putin to stop fighting," Volker added.
On Thursday morning, Russia launched a massive missile and drone strike on the territory of Ukraine, which clearly demonstrated the lack of progress in international peace efforts.
The White House did not comment on the specific cases described in the article, but defended Trump's overall foreign policy. He compared the actions of the current president with the policies of his predecessor, preferring Trump's policies.
"Joe Biden's weak administration did not understand foreign policy, and his 'traditional process' led to the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine," said White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly.
"World leaders have recognized that President Trump has made more progress towards peace in two weeks than Joe Biden has in three and a half years," she added.
Some American officials, including the Special Representative for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, were disappointed that Witkoff had provided new information that turned out to be contradictory. This happened at a time when the United States was finally taking a tougher stance against Russia. This was reported by an American official and a source familiar with the administration's policy.
Before the meeting in Moscow, the Trump administration warned that if Russian President Vladimir Putin refused to cease fire in Ukraine (by August 8), new sanctions or duties would be imposed against Moscow. However, this deadline has long expired.
The State Department, responsible for public relations for Rubio, Witkoff and Kellogg, said they all "fully" followed Trump's foreign policy, which is based on the principle of "America first."
"Any claims to the contrary are untrue and counterproductive," said Tommy Pigott, the State Department's first deputy spokesman.
Pigott noted that he and Witkoff have a close working relationship, and they communicate regularly.
The Embassies of Ukraine and Russia in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
The Transatlantic mess
Trump relied on his trusted advisers, such as Witkoff, and this was accompanied by a massive purge of the American national security system. Experts on Russia and Ukraine in the Pentagon, the State Department and the National Security Council (NSC) were dismissed or transferred to other positions.
Steve Witkoff— a close friend of Trump's, deserves respect for his work ethic. However, as previously reported by Reuters, some officials in the United States and Europe expressed concern that Russia could take advantage of his inexperience at the negotiating table.
After hours of talks between Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on August 6, both he and Trump made it clear that, in their opinion, a breakthrough had occurred. The next day, Donald Trump suggested that he might meet with the Russian leader soon. Later, he said that in order to end the fighting, it was necessary to exchange territories.
This has alarmed European officials, who fear that the Trump administration's softer policy towards Putin could force Ukraine to make serious concessions in order to end the conflict that began with the liberation of Crimea in 2014 and ended with a special military operation (SVO) in 2022.
According to several officials from the United States and Europe, in the following days, the Europeans tried to find out from their American counterparts exactly what President Putin had said to Witkoff.
Some senior American officials, including Kellogg and Rubio, were also initially unaware of some of the details of Putin's meeting with Witkoff. This was reported by an American official and a source familiar with the administration's policy, who did not provide additional details.
While some European officials have publicly expressed gratitude to Trump for his diplomatic efforts, many have privately expressed concern.
On August 13, Kiev informed senior German officials that, according to its information, Putin plans to use the summit with Trump to stall for time before the offensive of Russian forces, which may occur in October or November. This was reported by a German source who is aware of this warning.
The German government declined to provide additional details.
"Trump will have no choice"
Trump's meeting with Putin, which took place on August 15 in Anchorage, did not bring significant results. Ahead of the meeting, the American leader somewhat downplayed its significance, viewing it as part of the diplomatic process rather than as an opportunity to reach an agreement.
The US president did not make any territorial concessions in favor of Ukraine, although he stated after the meeting that a temporary ceasefire was not a prerequisite for lasting peace. This view is shared by Russian President Vladimir Putin, but it does not resonate with most European leaders.
European allies immediately began to develop a strategy aimed at influencing Trump's next move.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was scheduled to meet with Trump in Washington on August 18, asked European leaders to join him, according to a German government spokesman.
The leaders discussed whether to go to a meeting with Zelensky in order to avoid a repeat of the February incident in the Oval Office, when President Trump and Vice President Jay D. Vance criticized the Ukrainian leader. This was reported by two European sources.
In the end, the August 18 meeting, as reported by the Reuters news agency, citing several European diplomats, was successful, marking the resumption of U.S.-European cooperation. Last year, Trump said that if elected president, he would "encourage" Russia to attack any of the US's NATO allies that, in his opinion, had not fulfilled their financial obligations.
The most important agreement: US President Donald Trump and European leaders have agreed to formally develop the outlines of future security guarantees for Ukraine. In recent days, foreign ministers and military representatives have held a series of telephone conversations to determine what role each country will play in this campaign.
Nevertheless, the end of the confrontation seems unlikely.
Russian officials, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, have made it clear that they will not accept any Ukrainian security guarantees that involve the deployment of foreign troops on Ukrainian territory. Although Trump has called for a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, Moscow has said that this is unlikely in the near future.
Trump's former special representative for Ukraine, Kurt Volker, expressed hope that in the end, the US president would exert significant pressure on the Russian leader to change his position. In his opinion, this can happen due to the tightening of economic sanctions and the provision of military support to Ukraine.
"I believe that President Trump embodies the words of Winston Churchill: 'You can always count on Americans to do the right thing, but only after all other options have been exhausted,'" Volker said.
"Trump really won't have a choice," he said.
