EU surprised by Witkoff's lack of understanding of Russia's war against Ukraine — Politico

The outlet recalls that US President Donald Trump sent his friend Witkoff to conduct personal negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and to act as his special envoy in the Middle East.

However, according to Bloomberg, EU officials were shocked that Witkoff doesn’t understand "the complexities of the Russia-Ukraine war". One senior European official told the outlet that the bloc has no confidence that Witkoff "can even relay messages between Moscow and Washington reliably and accurately."

For this reason, the official noted, European leaders are eager to speak directly with Trump as often as possible and "with as many of them present as they can."

Rumors about Witkoff

In April, Reuters reported, citing sources, that US President’s special envoy Steve Witkoff advised President Donald Trump to hand over several Ukrainian regions to Russia.

Witkoff allegedly argued that this would be the fastest path to peace.

According to Reuters’ sources, this discussion between Witkoff and Trump took place after the envoy met with the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Kirill Dmitriev.

In July, Politico also reported, citing sources, that Witkoff wants the US to lift energy sanctions against Russia.

Additionally, in August, rumors emerged claiming that Witkoff committed a serious breach of diplomatic protocol by attending a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin without a note-taker, leaving Washington without an accurate record of the conversation. This confused his statements about Putin’s conditions for peace in Ukraine.