Donald Trump has said that his top negotiator in the Ukraine peace talks “knew nothing about Russia” before he was tasked with finding an end to the war.
The US president commended his diplomats in a wide-ranging Hanukkah celebration speech at the White House on Tuesday as American and Ukrainian delegations wrapped up the latest round of peace talks in Europe.
Trump singled out his son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff for praise over their work on the Israel-Hamas ceasefire earlier this year, before they were sent to lead talks with Ukraine.
“Steve’s a great dealmaker ... He was a real estate guy in New York. He knew less about rivers and metes and bounds and Russia and the various places he’s working on. He knew nothing about it,” said the US president.
“But I recognised – for 20 years I’ve been dealing with everybody in New York – I said, ‘Steve has the best personality’ ... I said, ‘Everybody loves Steve. He’s a great dealmaker, but everybody loves him.’ And that’s what he turned out to be.”
Mr Witkoff was brought in as Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East this year and oversaw the 10 October ceasefire in Gaza before assuming the role of de facto envoy to Russia. He was made special envoy for peace missions in June, before expanding his remit to the war in Ukraine.
The developer, who had no prior diplomatic experience, faced criticism from US, Ukrainian and European officials over his refusal to consult with experts. Earlier this year, people familiar with the talks told Politico he viewed the conflict “through a real estate lens, like a land dispute”.
Washington and Kyiv have been holding intermittent peace talks for months, most recently working to modify a 28-point plan drafted by the US that was widely seen to favour Russia. Both sides emerged optimistic from talks in Berlin this week, but territorial concessions remain a sticking point.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky came away from the discussions cautioning that the “workable” revised plan was still only a “first draft”, with challenges still to be resolved. He has consistently said he will not give up land to Russia, as doing so is forbidden under Ukraine’s constitution.
Officials told the AFP news agency that the American team was still insisting that Ukraine should give up its Donbas region in the east in order to end the war.
Mr Witkoff came under scrutiny last month after a tape was leaked of him appearing to coach senior aide to Vladimir Putin, Yuri Ushakov, on how to negotiate in Russia’s interests.
A transcript of the call leaked to Bloomberg revealed that Mr Witkoff told Ushakov to ensure the Russian leader congratulated the US president following the announcement of his Gaza deal, insisting that the praise would ensure their discussion would be “a really good call”.
